Beneath the Surface of Midnight
by Miles333
Summary: After the events aboard the Crusader 50, Donna thinks the Doctor is fine. But a string of strange events, including the Doctor's near drowning and several episodes of memory loss, prove her wrong. What does the creature of Midnight want? DoctorWhump!
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** Sorry, but I don't own _Doctor Who_. I know, it's hard to believe. :P

**A/N:** I hope all of you enjoy the story, and please be sure to review after reading! :D

**Summary: **After the events aboard the Crusader 50, Donna thinks the Doctor is fine. But a string of strange events, including the Doctor's near drowning and several episodes of memory loss, prove her wrong. What does the creature of Midnight want? DoctorWhump!

**Timeline:** Takes place after _Midnight,_ but before _Turn Left._

* * *

Chapter One

Donna was forced awake from a dreamless sleep by a strange sound that she couldn't quite place for several moments. Once she blinked the sleep from her eyes, she lay with her head on the soft pillow and listened to the heavy silence. Whatever she had heard before, it was certainly gone by now. The small set of rooms that she shared with the Doctor was eerily silent.

_Maybe I was only imagining things, _she thought disapprovingly, more than ready to go back to sleep. She had experienced a rough day, though not nearly as rough as the Doctor's had been. The poor bloke. She couldn't imagine what he must have gone through, helpless to do anything but repeat everything that the creature had said, unable to even protest when the humans onboard the shuttle were tossing him out. And even though he'd insisted that he had told her absolutely everything about his experience, she got the feeling that he'd left several things out.

With a shudder, she turned over onto her other side, burrowing her face deep into the pillow again. Her mum would have been jealous of these pillows. She had always insisted that no one could have better pillows than the Noble family, on account of the fact that they were handmade by some long-dead relative. And even though Sylvia would have a hard time admitting it, these pillows were _much_ better, in Donna's opinion. She'd only had to travel a few hundred years into the future to find them. Maybe the Doctor would let her take a few home in the TARDIS.

Just as her eyes drifted shut again, Donna was jolted back to the land of the living once more. She sat straight up in bed, heart pounding. She had _definitely_ heard something this time, though what exactly, she wasn't sure. It had sounded like a shout, coming from the direction of the tiny living area, which adjoined to the bedroom. But why on earth would she hear something like that, and in the middle of the night? The inner and outer walls of the rooms were all impossibly thick, to keep out any of the deadly x-tonic sunlight, or so the Doctor had said. So she doubted that any sound could manage to penetrate the room, if light couldn't even perform such a feat.

The noise came again, this time most certainly a muffled cry. It sounded like it was coming from the living room this time. _Don't tell me that the Doctor has had a few alien 'mates' drop in for a visit, ones that are currently bashing his bleeding head in, _she thought with a heavy sigh, quickly throwing back the covers and stepping down to the floor. Unfortunately, such a thing usually happened whenever they stayed somewhere beside the TARDIS at night. The Doctor, wonderful skinny alien that he was, had a lot of enemies. Grabbing her robe from where it had been hanging on the bedpost, she hurriedly tied it around herself.

Walking cautiously towards the door, Donna reached for the knob. It was cool to the touch as she slowly turned it and pulled the door towards her. Poking her head slowly around the doorframe, she surveyed the darkness before taking another step into the room. She wasn't keen on the idea of finding the Doctor in his knickers. Not that she had ever seen him wearing anything besides that suit of his. Did he _ever_ take it off?

Once her eyes had adjusted to the blackness, Donna saw that nothing seemed amiss in the small room. And all she could see of the Doctor was a ruffled tuft of brown hair sticking out at one end of the couch, his sneaker-clad feet protruding off the other end. She suppressed a chuckle at his predicament; his legs were much too long to allow him comfortable sleep on the sofa, but he had insisted on letting her take the bed.

Pulling her robe tighter around herself to block out the chilly temperature of the suite, Donna turned to head back to her room. She had obviously been imagining things. The Doctor was not locked in some gruesome brawl as she had suspected, instead fast asleep.

But then it came again, a mumbled moan coming from directly behind her. Donna whirled around, eyes widening owlishly, then stared at the strange sight before her. The Doctor was thrashing about under his blankets, eyes still pressed closed. Even from where she stood across the room, she could see the ghostly paleness of his face; it glowed in the darkness like the lens cover of a torch. Though it was hard to imagine, the Doctor was having a nightmare. She had never imagined him to be the type to have nightmares, especially one as violent as this. He was still thrashing, groaning under his breath and muttering.

Donna rushed over to the side of the couch, reaching down to grab his shoulder. She shook it as hard as she could, her body tense as she watched him finally still. "Doctor? Doctor, are you all right?"

"No, don't do thi–" The Doctor unexpectedly jolted away from her touch, pulling his body towards the other end of the sofa. His dark eyes flew open, wild and darting. "Donna? What…?" He took a deep breath, obviously trying to get a grip on himself again.

"Doctor? What the blazes were you doing? You almost looked like you were having a seizure," Donna stated breathlessly, trying to hide her immense relief at seeing him awake and well.

Instead of answering her question, the Doctor shuddered and closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them again, he looked a bit calmer. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" He trailed off, running one hand through his hair. It then stuck up even more than normal, giving him the look of a man who was quite mad.

Donna softened, seeing the vulnerability in his eyes. She'd never seen him look like this, so open. He usually hid his emotions behind a grinning mask. Sinking down beside him on the sofa, she drew both legs up underneath herself. "What's wrong, Spaceman?"

The Doctor gave a startled chuckle, looking over at her. "Nothing. I think the gravity-free restaurant gave me nightmares. Those bibs weren't much help, actually. Ruined my favorite suit. I'm considering calling in the Shadow Proclamation."

His current companion arched a brow. "Don't give me that, mister. What's wrong?" Her eyes widened half a second later, when something suddenly struck her. "Were you dreaming about…what happened on the shuttle?"

"Donna Noble. Did I ever tell you that you're brilliant?" the Doctor asked weakly.

"Oh, _Doctor_. Those daft excuses for human beings aren't going to ever do anything to you again, not if _I_ have anything to say about it," she announced loudly, giving him a small pat on the shoulder.

"I…I wasn't really dreaming about _them_." He turned his almost hypnotic gaze on her, eyebrows rising almost to his hairline. "Much. I was dreaming about the creature that inhabited Sky. It's impossible…but I dreamt that it was waiting for me."

Donna gaped at him. "Waiting for you? Why the hell would it wait for you?"

"Yes, that's right." He cleared his throat, his anguished expression abruptly fading. "Anyway, on to tomorrow's activities. We should make the most of this, because we'll only be here a couple more days. Blimey, there's so much to do. So, Donna Noble. Shall we go swimming with the slyvivin fish or skydiving on the diamond and emerald rock cliff in the east wing of the resort? True, the slyvivin fish may sound dangerous, but they actually aren't. There haven't been any causalities with them around. Welllll_, _not many. Welllll, not a lot. Welllll, not _very_ many. Any road, what's ever _completely_ safe?" The Doctor chuckled nervously, then turned back round to face her. "Well? What do you think, Donna?"

Donna, who had been very silent through all of this, growing increasingly more impatient, cleared her throat. "Doctor. We are _not_ going to just ignore this, sweep it all under the rug like usual. You said that you think a previously unknown parasite creature that's been living under a poisonous sun was calling _you_ in a _dream_. That's more than just a normal day, dontcha think?"

The Doctor blinked once, seemingly gobsmacked. Finally, he spoke again, in a low voice. "Like I said, it was just a dream, Donna. That's _all_," he said firmly.

"But, Doctor. You can't just– " she began.

"Be sure to get a good night's rest, Donna. Tomorrow, I think we should visit the slyvivin fish in Peak's Lagoon. Definitely. I've completely made up my mind. Be sure to wear something waterproof. Not that it'll matter, of course. You'll have to take it off and hang it on the rack in the changing rooms and put on the proper suit. I do love a good suit, you know. So it should be a busy day. And we won't be trying that gravity-free restaurant again, believe me. I doubt they want the Shadow Proclamation showing up on their doorstep."

The Doctor promptly broke off, turning over onto his right side to face the back of the couch. To Donna's utter disbelief, he closed his eyes and became absolutely still. It was more than obvious that the conversation was over. He seemed to plan to fall asleep right then and there, and once again brush off any concern that she felt for him.

"Fine then, _Spaceman_. See if I care if you get traumatized from bottling everything up inside, and…and…_explode_!" Donna hissed childishly, leaping to her feet. She stomped towards the bedroom and thunderously slammed the door behind her. Unfortunately, her dramatic exit was ruined when her robe was caught on the door, and she was forced to pause and free it. Then she quickly finished closing the door and dropped down onto her bed.

"I almost shouldn't have woken you up. I liked it better when you weren't constantly babbling on about nothing in particular," Donna said darkly, though she was in actuality trying to convince herself. Because her ears were still filled with the heart-wrenching cries that had been coming from the Doctor's lips. And she could still hear his short sentence about the creature calling to him. But she had no idea whether it was really serious or not, the Doctor being himself. He always downplayed everything, even the most serious of incidents.

_Surely not even the Doctor would hide something like this from me,_ Donna muttered mentally. _He'll tell me if something really happens_. She hesitated, brow furrowing. _…Won't he?_

* * *

When Donna awoke the next morning, the thickly tinted window of her room was gleaming with fluorescent lightning. As the Doctor has told her on the first day that they'd arrived, the staff apparently switched on the bulbs that were imbedded in the thick glass every morning, to create the illusion of sunlight.

Stretching, she sat up in bed and stretched both arms out before her. Her brow furrowed when she remembered the events of the night before, and the Doctor's nightmare. Even if he hadn't directly told her about the dream, it had been obvious that it was about what had happened aboard the _Crusader 50_. She wondered briefly if he would be a quivering puddle on the couch by now. It wouldn't surprise her, as she had seen stranger things than the mad Doctor going truly insane.

Heaving a deep sigh, Donna climbed from bed and walked over to the wardrobe, where a worker drone had previously hung up all her clothes from the TARDIS. She selected a shirt and nondescript slacks, dressing in them as quickly as possible. Then, running a hand through her hair, she opened her door and emerged into the small living room.

The Doctor, who had been sitting motionlessly on the couch, sprang to his feet as she approached him. "Donna! You've never gotten up so early in all the time that I've known you! You're usually in bed till midmorning or until we're attacked by aliens, whichever happens to come first." He grinned cheekily at her.

"Oi! Watch it, Spaceman." As she spoke, Donna studied the Time Lord before her. As usual, he was dressed in that same suit that he _always_ wore, and was grinning widely at her. The only thing that she noticed as wrong with him was the unusual paleness of his face, and the dark circles under both madly wide eyes. Anyone who wasn't close friends with the Doctor wouldn't notice a thing, but Donna noticed it right off.

"So, Donna. Are you ready to visit the slyvivin fish today, in the diamond and crystal pond?" He beamed eagerly at her, but his eyes weren't really sparkling like they usually did.

"Oh _no_ you don't. We're sitting down to some proper breakfast before we go mucking about all over creation, mister. Especially you. You're as thin as a rake, with all that running that you do. And if you don't eat enough each day, you'll be withered into nothing by the next morning!" Donna declared, planting both hands on her hips.

The Doctor's eyebrows were almost merged with his hairline, they were raised so high. He cleared his throat when he saw Donna's unwavering gaze boring right into his own eyes. "Right, then. As I was saying, we will be heading directly to the pavilion beside the third pool for a quick bite. It'll only take a tick, I'm sure."

"Good." Donna smiled superiorly at him, then marched to the door and out into the elegant corridor. The Doctor followed her, latching the door behind them. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, the Time Lord began wandering down the hallway in the direction that Donna assumed was the right one. She closely followed him, discreetly studying his back through narrowed eyes. He seemed back to normal (for him, anyway), but something was kind of…_off_ about him.

The Doctor led them through a complicated maze of gleaming hallways. They hardly passed anyone, but Donna assumed that it was because the whole lot was off participating in some of the activities that the Doctor seemed to want to do so badly. His long legs carried him along so fast that she was forced to practically jog to keep up.

"Right through here, Donna Noble!" the Doctor exclaimed cheerfully, pausing in a doorway and sweeping his arm in the room's general direction. "They've got the best marmalade ever invented in this section of the spa. Well, I _say_ the best. Almost the best. Er...pretty good. Well, I hear it's _decent_." He shrugged carelessly, not seeming bothered by the murderous look Donna was currently giving him.

She stepped through the doorway, and was confronted by a sparkling blue pool. Several tables were set up strategically around the poolside, far enough back so that any swimmers wouldn't splash those having tea. Only two of the other tables were occupied, and Donna selected another table far away from them. She was going to get the Doctor to talk about what had happened to him two days ago if it was the last she did. He was being so _daft_ about the whole thing. Talking about bad stuff usually helped you get over them, or so her granddad always said.

As soon as the Doctor and Donna had seated themselves, an alien woman with skin that had a slight purple tint to it rushed up to the side of their table. She was dressed completely in white, and her blue hair was slung up in a spiky style at the crown of her head. She held a small metallic device in one hand, which Donna assumed was the future equivalent of a waitressing notepad, to write the orders on. Apparently this lot was too good to use a pen anymore. Everything was so _electronic_.

"What can I get you today?" the waitress questioned coyly, winking at the Doctor with a silver-pupiled eye. "The…_special_?"

Donna made a face of disgust, looking away. Why were all the fit birds always flirting with the Doctor, no matter what planet they went to? She was so far the _only_ one who hadn't fallen in love with the walking rake. What did all the women see in a tall, skinny alien wearing a ragged suit and trainers?

The Doctor was, of course, oblivious as he flipped open his menu and studied it. "How about toast with marmalade, bacon, fried tomatoes, hash browns, and poached eggs. Oh, and we'll need a couple cuppas," he rattled off suddenly, "for both of us. We'll need some strength for those slyvivin fish we're going swimming with. Oh, and how is your marmalade? Is it like I've heard? Because Gandarthi has pretty good marmalade there–"

"Oi!" Donna cut in impatiently, seeing the waitress's flustered expression when she was greeted with his random babbling. She could also tell that the conversation had the potential to continue on for a countless amount of time. "Who told you that I wanted all that?"

"Oh." The Doctor appeared suitably sheepish, running one hand through his ruffled hair. "Sorry. I just thought that you would, you know, want plenty of food. The water in the slyvivin enclosure tends to be quite draining, sometimes causing you to lose a pound or two, in order to keep the fish from getting too strong and biting their way out of the enclosure–"

"Right," Donna interrupted him again. "Fine, whatever you say, Spaceman. Sounds _wonderful_."

"Right, then." The Doctor looked pleased, then turned back to the alien waitress. "So, the marmalade. Does it compare to the Gandarthian marmalade or not? Have you had any complaints on _yours_?" His dark eyes went owlishly round as a sudden thought struck him. "And do you offer anything with _banana_ flavoring?"

"Of course," the waitress purred. "Would you like several selections?" Smirking, she touched several buttons of the screen of her device.

"Fantastic!" The Doctor sat his menu down, grinning gratefully up at the waitress.

The waitress reached into her pocket and held out a scrap of paper. "Here."

The Doctor took it, brow wrinkling adorably. Donna smirked. He looked so cute when he was confused, like a golden retriever who couldn't remember what it had done with its ball. "What's this?"

"My communicator digits. Be sure to dial them sometime _soon_." The waitress pranced away, hips swaying dramatically. Donna scowled, rolling her eyes heavenward.

The Doctor stared at the paper like he'd never seen one before in his life. Making a puzzled face, he stuffed the paper carelessly into a pocket. "I'm afraid that the marmalade might not be as good as I had thought, Donna. I hope you won't be disappointed. The way that that waitress kept avoiding the question made me think that she knew that their marmalade wasn't up to snuff, as they say. We could always travel to Gandarthi to eat our breakfast then come back, but I don't think that–"

"Doc_tor_!" Donna, fed-up with his babbling around _marmalade_ of all things, finally shouted at the top of her lungs. The few other people who were eating in various places around the pool curiously glanced over. "Will you stop talking about the bloody _marmalade_?"

The Doctor coughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Oh. Sorry." He stared down at the menu resting before him, unblinking.

Donna leaned forward across the table, trying to force him to actually look him in the eye. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yup." His lips popped on the 'p'. "Fine. Never better. Molto bene."

"Then why am I not exactly convinced?"

"Maybe you didn't get enough sleep last night." The Doctor shrugged his shoulders, finally looking up towards her. "It happens."

"Yeah. To _you_," Donna stated flatly.

"What? To _me_?" The Doctor looked offended that she would ever think such a thing. "I'm a Time Lord. I hardly need any sleep at all."

"Give me a break," Donna grumbled under her breath. "Why won't you just tell me what's wrong? You always insist on keeping up the daft façade that you're invincible."

"Maybe I am." The Doctor wiggled both eyebrows suggestively.

Donna's eyes narrowed into thin slits. "So. This creature." She ignored the unreadable expression that crossed his otherwise serene face when she spoke the three words. "You really don't know anything about it? Except for the fact that it possesses people, causes others to repeat while draining them, and can exist under poisonous sunlight without burning up?" Donna ticked each of these off on her fingers. "Is there any possibility that it could…call to its previous victims?" She held her breath, trying to look as innocent as she could. Maybe the Doctor wouldn't notice that she was bringing up what he had told her last night, and let something vital about the nightmare slip…

The Doctor mumbled something in a rough voice, scowling as he once again stared at the tabletop. Whatever it was that he said, it didn't sound very pleasant.

"What was that?" she prodded him.

"I _said_, I never should have told you about that last night," he repeated in a hard voice.

Oh. So he _did_ remember telling her about that. Quite a shame, really. Now she was going to have to force the truth out of him. "Doctor, I want you to tell me right n–"

"Here is your order, sir and madam." A different waitress approached, this one perfectly human, holding two steaming trays made of polished glass and silver. Donna assumed that the change was because the other woman's boss had seen her flirting with the Doctor and had reported it. This waitress placed a tray before each of them, murmured that her name was Nicala (just in case they happened to need anything), then hurried away.

Donna stared silently down at her plate, then picked up the fork. Cutting into the hash browns, she raised the food to her lips and took a small bite. Across the table from her, the Doctor was cautiously investigating his toast. It was obvious that he wasn't going to breathe a word about anything she asked him now. The moment (not that it had actually been much of one) had passed, and he was closed tightly up like a shell now, displaying nothing of what he truly felt on the inside.

She secretly wondered if this was why all the other companions before her had gone away. Because despite the fact that he was always talking, he never actually _said_ anything.

"Oh _yes_!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, causing Donna to jump in her seat, startled. "This marmalade _is_ as brilliant as I had heard!"

The two women at the table next to theirs, one of which looked only half human, tittered and shot the Doctor admiring looks.

Donna only shook her head, hoping that her already strained patience could last through the entirety of this so-called 'vacation'.

* * *

After breakfast, the Doctor ushered them off to changing rooms across the spa from their previous location, sending her to the female side while he strolled into the one designated for males. Donna rushed to grab one of the waterproof clothing bags and hurried into a stall, wanting to finish up as quickly as possible. She was looking forward to seeing the human-looking alien dressed in something besides that suit of his. She couldn't even imagine it, and wouldn't have been surprised if he had gone swimming in his usual clothes.

She hung her clothes on a rack just inside the spacious changing stall, next slipping into the skintight black rubber, which was surprisingly soft on the inside but tough on the outside. She even had to pull on gloves and long stockings that were sort of like shoes yet not quite. A small silver electric blaster was to be strapped at her waist. According to the instructions, it was for an occasion that the slyvivin fish might get 'too frisky in the event of an emergency'.

Once dressed, she hurried back out of the changing area, finding the Doctor already leaning against the wall beside the door. Unexpectedly, she saw that he was dressed in the same way that she was, and looking strangely…good. She found her traitorous eyes roaming up and down his body before she realized what she was doing and quickly jerked them away, outraged at her own behavior.

The Doctor grinned cheekily at her, obviously having seen the direction of her gaze. "You look brilliant, Donna Noble."

"I don't know. These things are kind of…revealing, in an odd way. It's like they're a second skin," Donna said embarrassedly.

The Doctor shrugged. "We'll call the Shadow Proclamation down on whoever invented them. After we're down swimming for a few ticks. Allons-y!" The Doctor gestured gallantly towards the pool area, eyes bright. Almost bright enough to hide the dark circles that still plagued the skin beneath them.

Donna stepped out onto the white tiled floor and felt her jaw drop. All around her stretched a large room that much resembled the rest of the luxurious spa. But to her left stretched a pool that more appeared to be a sparkling lake of perfectly clear water. It was two or three football fields long, and from what she could see, just as deep. Near the bottom, jagged rocks made of glittering diamonds jutted sharply upwards, looking like stalagmites inside an underwater cave. And if this wasn't enough, beautiful fish that looked surprisingly like dolphins with golden and green scales floated leisurely near the surface.

"I…you…it's…" Donna couldn't really think of anything to say. Of all the places that they had been together, and all the things that she had seen, this was by far the most beautiful.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" the Doctor asked rhetorically, grinning widely at the awed expression on his current companion's face.

"No. _Way_. It's…well, it's _enormous_."

"Quite so. I thought that you might like it. I haven't been here in at least a hundred years, so they've expanded it quite a lot since then, obviously." He appeared like he wanted to stuff his hands into his pockets out of habit, and looked a little lost when he realized that there weren't any in the suit he was currently wearing. He ended up letting them dangle loosely at his sides.

"But those…_things_ at the bottom, those spikes. Aren't they dangerous?"

"Oh yes."

"Then why do people swim in there?" she demanded.

"The more dangerous, the more people love it," was all that he said by way of explanation.

Donna snorted. "Are any of them related to _you_, by any chance?"

The Doctor turned somber. "I only wish they were."

Donna grimaced, realizing her extreme faux pas. "Doctor, I'm–"

He waved his hand impatiently, feigning indifference. "That's all right; it's all in the past now. Quite a ways in the past, if you want to know the truth." His gaze wandered off in a seemingly random direction, then he suddenly stiffened. His eyes seemed even wider than normal.

Donna glanced in the direction that he was looking, and saw that the subject of his attention was a dark-skinned girl with her hair in pigtails and a pair of slim glasses planted firmly on the bridge of her nose. The girl was actually quite pretty, though Donna couldn't understand why she had caught the Doctor's attention so rapidly. She was standing by the side of the lake-like pond, staring with wonder at the creatures swimming through the water while taking notes on a pad of paper. Apparently, she wasn't one of those who always used electronic devices, like the waitress who had taken their breakfast order. Donna immediately felt that she was a kindred spirit to the temp inside herself. She appreciated anyone who didn't skimp on their duties.

As she glanced questioningly back at that Doctor, he hurriedly looked the other way. "Oh, look. They've got a little shop. Brilliant." He tugged her behind a selection of potted trees, towards a small booth selling sunglasses, cameras, and other small souvenirs. He moved his body directly behind the thickest part of the small cluster, peering through the pointed leaves. He didn't seem to notice the appraising look that the woman behind the counter of the booth was giving him.

"Why don't you want that girl to see us?" Donna demanded, planting both hands on her hips.

The Doctor responded a little too quickly. "Why would you think that? What girl? I just saw this little shop, and wanted to come look at…" He looked quickly at the selection on the counter. "…this jewelry, salvaged from the nearby planet Arachnia. And that's no small feat, believe me." He held up a piece of jewelry at random, which happened to be a single gold earring that was studded with various precious stones.

"Why? You don't even have pierced ears…or are there any _other_ areas that you have pierced?"

"No! Of course not," the Doctor scoffed, tossing the elegant earring back in place. "What I meant to say was–"

Donna's eyes widened in sudden understanding, and her mouth dropped open. "Oh. My. God! She's one of the passengers from the _Crusader 50_, isn't she?"

The Doctor abruptly went even paler than his usual shade of color. "No, Donna. It's…that's completely illogical…" he stuttered uncharacteristically.

"That's what I thought," Donna growled, clenching both hands into fists. So this was one of the human monsters who had tried to murder the Doctor, tried to leave her stranded in the wrong time and the wrong galaxy.

She wasn't about to let this opportunity get past her.

The Doctor seemed to realize what she was about to do a mere second after she did. "Donna, don't–"

But it was too late. Donna marched resolutely towards the unsuspecting girl, who was still carefully scribbling notes in her book. All feelings of kindredness had vanished, and Donna was more than ready for revenge. The Doctor would never dream of standing up for himself, so she was going to just have to do it herself.

"Oi!" Donna shouted, coming to a stop beside the girl. She could hear the Doctor hissing her name from somewhere behind her, but he didn't seem to be close enough yet to stop her from what she planned to do any second now.

"Um…can I help you?" the girl inquired softly, in a shy voice.

"Oh yes," Donna ground out, borrowing a phrase from the Doctor. "What's your name?"

"Dee-Dee. Dee-Dee Blasco," she answered with wide eyes. "Why do you want to know?"

"Did you ride on the _Crusader 50_ two days ago?" Donna went on like she hadn't even heard the question.

"Um…yes." Dee-Dee seemed almost frightened now, something that looked remarkably like guilt blossoming in her expressively dark eyes.

"Fantastic." That was all that she needed to know. Pulling her arm back, Donna aimed it right for Dee-Dee's face. The poor girl apparently saw it coming, because she turned her head away and grabbed frantically at thin air, happening to grab hold of Donna's other arm.

As the aforementioned fist brutally grazed the side of Dee-Dee's face, three things happened simultaneously. First, a series of gasps rang out across the room. Second, the strength and momentum of Donna's punch forced Dee-Dee to topple back-first towards the slyvivin enclosure, taking both her and Donna into the icy water. And third, the Doctor skidded to a stop at the edge of the pool, eyes wide with horror.

Donna found herself suddenly emerged in cold water and choked as her lungs filled with liquid instead of the coveted air. Choking and gagging, she kicked at Dee-Dee until the girl let go of her, then kicked her way to the surface. As her head broke free and she gasped for oxygen, the Doctor leapt feet-first into the drink, landing smoothly beside her. Dee-Dee burst to the surface as well, kicking wildly with her legs to keep her head above water.

"Donna! What are you _doing_?" the Doctor hissed angrily, looking completely indignant at her shocking actions. For some reason, he didn't seem at all grateful that Donna had taken revenge for him.

"What the hell is your problem?" Dee-Dee shouted, not seeming at all shy and innocent, now that she had been punched in the face and unwillingly shoved into freezing water with a bunch of large and glittery fish. There was no blood, but the punch was definitely going to leave some sort of bruise. This gave Donna a sort of grim satisfaction.

"I could ask you the very same _question_," Donna pronounced slowly and menacingly, moving her legs slowly back and forth as she treaded water. She ignored the Doctor, staring directly into Dee-Dee's eyes. The girl had lost her glasses in the plunge, and looked strangely vulnerable without them.

"What are you, mad?" Dee-Dee very angrily wanted to know.

"Yes, but as in _very_ _angry_," she replied meaningfully. "This," she went on, gesturing sharply behind her towards the Doctor, "happens to be a friend of mine. And I hear that you either helped try to kill him or at least didn't try to stop the others from doing it. And in my book, that's the _exact same thing_."

Dee-Dee's eyes went wide with sudden horror as she stared over Donna's shoulder at the Doctor. "Doctor! Oh my God! I'm…I'm _so_ sorry about what happened–"

"'_Sorry'_ just doesn't cut it, sister!" Donna exclaimed.

"I didn't do a _thing_ to him!" Dee-Dee cried desperately, tearing her gaze from the Time Lord and focusing them back on her feisty aggressor. She rather had the look of a deer caught in the headlights. "The others were the ones who tried to throw him out of the shuttle!"

"And yet you didn't help him. Like I said, you're as guilty as the rest of 'em, as far as I'm concerned," Donna snapped, eyes flashing with unsuppressed rage. "And I am going to have to make you see the error of your…ways…" Donna's voice trailed off as she wondered why exactly the Doctor hadn't stopped her by now. He should have already grabbed her and hustled her away to keep her from killing Dee-Dee in cold blood...

Donna slowly turned, and was shocked when she didn't see him anywhere in sight. That _coward_. He'd gone and run off! Of all the bleeding daft things to do!

That's when she caught a glimpse of motion before her, and glanced down, worried that one of the so-called 'peaceful' fish was preparing to attack. Nothing could have surprised her more than the sight of the Doctor sinking swiftly downwards, eyes wide and staring directly at her. His body was completely stiff, and his face was a mask of pure terror as he slowly but surely drowned. And he wasn't doing a thing about it. It was almost like he was…paralyzed.

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Please review if you want to see what happens next. And you know you want to! :D


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer:** Sorry, but I don't own _Doctor Who_. I know, it's hard to believe. :P

**A/N:** Thanks so much for all the reviews, guys. I really appreciate the feedback!

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Chapter Two

Donna stared in horror at the Doctor's sinking form and the uncharacteristic look of terror painted on his face. She thought for a few moments that maybe it was just rubbish to get her to stop from trying to murder Dee-Dee, which seemed like something the Doctor would pull. But the look of intense panic on his face couldn't be faked, even by her Spaceman. Besides, as a bubble of precious air exploded from his lips and he sank into the darkness and out of her line of vision, it was more than obvious that something wasn't right with the situation.

"What the hell is going on here?" Donna cried, kicking her legs to tread water as she almost joined him in sinking beneath the surface of the freezing water. One of the slivvy fish or silver fish or whatever it was that the Doctor had called them earlier brushed up against her leg, and she flinched away. "Are you doing something to him? He's _sinking_!" She jabbed an accusing finger in the direction that the Doctor had vanished in. She still wasn't completely sure that he wasn't having her on.

"Oh my God," Dee-Dee choked out, her dark eyes owlishly round. "Oh my God. That's–that's just what happened to him and that Sky woman on the _Crusader 50_! His face…"

_No,_ Donna thought, mildly suspicious about whether Dee-Dee was telling the truth or not. _It could still be some sort of trick. How can it be what happened to him on that shuttle? That's rubbish! _She hesitated, eyes flickering back towards where she had last glimpsed the Time Lord. _But what if it's true? What if he _is_ drowning?_ another mental voice prompted her. _Then it'll be all your fault if the skinny bloke dies!_

That was enough for her. Inhaling a gasp of oxygen and tuning out Dee-Dee's frightened cries of concern for the Doctor, she expertly dove beneath the waves. Well, she would have liked to think that her dive was expert. She really had no experience with swimming, so she wasn't quite sure what it officially rated. All she knew was that once she was submerged completely, her strangely skintight suit protected her from the cold. It clung even tighter to her, if that was even possible, and kept even a drop of liquid from leaking inside.

Donna gave a powerful kick, one which moved her with surprising speed towards the seemingly endless bottom of the chasm-like lake. She assumed that something was up with the gravity here, like the gravity-free restaurant. She dismissed the puzzling thought from her mind and moved back to more pressing matters, such as the drowning Doctor. She could only hope that the 'superior alien physiology' he was always going on about included being able to hold his breath longer than a normal human. If not…then whatever she found at the bottom wasn't going to be very good.

A glimpse of black below her caught her attention, and she squinted through the perfectly clear water that stung her eyes. The Doctor was sprawled limply on a gathering of gorgeous sapphire and diamond rocks, caught there during his downward spiral. Donna was eternally grateful for this, since her lungs were already burning for air. She kicked with both legs, then stopped right before him. The human-looking alien's eyes were still open impossibly wide, the pupils focused right on her. His expression seemed to beg her for help, still as horribly frozen as it had been when he had first started sinking. For some reason, it almost seemed like he couldn't even control his facial muscles. This was very troubling to Donna, but she didn't have time to think about what it meant.

_Come __on__, Doctor! Help me out here_! she begged him silently, grabbing one of his arms with both of her hands, straining and trying to pull him upward. He made no sign that he intended to help her, expression still frozen in one of utter terror. Her lungs burned even more insistently, and her throat was almost painfully scratchy. She had to get some air soon, or she was going to drown. But she couldn't leave him down there to die, not after all they'd been through together! If it weren't for him, Lance and his alien spider friend would have killed her way back in the day, preventing her from participating in all this wonderful traveling. And he'd saved her life so many times…

Suddenly, another pair of hands wrapped around the Doctor's other arm. Donna's head whipped up in surprise, a bubble of air escaping from her mouth, and she saw Dee-Dee hovering just across from her, a determined look on her pretty face. She nodded briskly, which Donna took to mean that she was there to help. Then they both pulled the Doctor's body upward.

Donna kicked as powerfully as she could, Dee-Dee doing the same, as they fought to reach the surface. Blackness was already starting to spot round the edges of Donna's vision, so she couldn't even begin to imagine how the Doctor was holding up, since he had been under so much longer than she had. She could only pray that the lack of oxygen hadn't already affected his amazing brain. She certainly couldn't run the TARDIS herself, that was for sure.

Wonderfully, their heads broke the surface at that exact instant. Donna continued gripping the Doctor as she gasped in the coveted air, slinging one arm over her shoulders and choking. Dee-Dee was doing the same, though she wasn't nearly as oxygen-starved. "This…almost…heightens my opinion…of you," Donna managed to say, earning a small twist of the lips from Dee-Dee.

"It certainly heightens my opinion of myself," Dee-Dee murmured softly, bowing her head. "Now, could we get out of the water yet? It's bloody freezing."

Oh, that was right. Donna had forgotten about the girl's lack of a suit; she was only in her regular clothing. "Sure, sounds brilliant. Doctor, how does that sound to–" She turned to look at the Doctor, then broke off and froze. He was hanging limply off her, eyes now pressed closed and skin several shades paler. He looked…well, he looked rather like a corpse. A very dead one.

"Oh my God! Doctor!" Donna shrieked, eyes nearly bugging out of her head at the sight of her alien companion in such a state. "Come on; we've got to get him on dry land!" She made for the side of the lake, flapping her free arm through the water to move them forward. She reached it before Dee-Dee and pulled her body up onto the concrete. Then, ignoring the startled cries of several gawking bystanders, she tugged her half of the Doctor up, followed by Dee-Dee. Water splashed and sloshed everywhere, wetting everyone within spitting distance.

Donna paid the outraged humans no mind, dropping to her knees in front of the unconscious Doctor. Staring at his surprisingly muscled chest, which was easily shown through his skintight suit, her throat clenched when she saw that not even the lightest breath of air was moving it up and down.

"He isn't breathing! Oh my God, he isn't _breathing_!" Dee-Dee cried shrilly, wringing her dripping hands in front of her.

"Yeah, I figured that out, thanks!" Donna shouted irritably back at her, not tearing her gaze from the Doctor's motionless chest. _I've got to do something! _she thought frantically, moving on her knees to get closer to the Doctor's head. _Maybe…what was it? CPR? _Her granddad had once shown her how to perform the lifesaving procedure when she'd been about ten or eleven. She'd even gotten to practice on her mum's dog, which hadn't gone over too well.

Taking a deep breath, Donna positioned herself in what she hoped was the right place. Then she placed both hands on the center of the Doctor's chest and started pumping it up and down, a few times extra for good measure. Then she stared at his parted lips for several seconds, willing herself to do what needed to be done, then swiftly leaned forward and breathed into his mouth. Pulling back, she repeated the steps two more times, and paused to survey her handiwork.

"He's still not breathing!" Dee-Dee cried with horror.

"I thought I was doing it right…" Donna murmured breathlessly, biting down hard on her lower lip while staring at the Doctor's limp form. She was really starting to get worried; he hadn't moved or even breathed since she'd pulled him out of the drink. She's been doing the compressions directly over his heart, which she vaguely remembered her granddad explaining was the way to get it started again if it happened to stop. And the heart _was_ on the left side of the chest, wasn't it?

"Oh God, of _course_!" she suddenly shouted, causing the soaked Dee-Dee to jump in surprise, then stare at her with wide eyes. "He's got _two_ _hearts_!" Hurriedly leaning forward, she started pumping both hands on the right side of the Doctor's chest, then switched back to the left side once more. Inhaling deeply, she pressed her lips to his and breathed into his mouth while pinching his nose closed.

Unexpectedly, the Doctor's chest jerked, and he coughed. Donna jerked back, covering her immense relief with a faux disgusted expression. "I just saved your life, and _that's_ the bloody thanks I get? You coughing into my mouth?" She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, then abruptly halted all formalities. "Doctor, are you all right?" she asked in a meek voice.

The Doctor was still lying on his back, head lolled to one side. Still coughing, the clear water of the lake spewed from his lips and all over the concrete. He gasped for air, coughing and wheezing while Donna stared at him with much concern. She was about ready to resume CPR, whether he was conscious or not, when his dark eyes finally rolled into full view, darting around to Dee-Dee and the people that were unabashedly staring. He shuddered violently, the expression of fear that had been present in the water coming back to his face. "So cold...completely paralyzed…" he muttered, talking to no one but himself.

"That…that was what the creature who was inside the woman said," Dee-Dee uttered after this revelation, causing Donna to turn and look at her. "About the cold, and being unable to move…" A guilty look crossed her face, which led to Donna noting silently that maybe the girl wasn't quite over what had happened on the shuttle, or her part in it.

The Doctor seemed to shake himself, the expression of fear vanishing from his face. He blinked groggily up at his companion, mouth twisting into a grimace. "Donna? Blimey, why are we all wet? I don't exactly remember going for a swi–" His eyes fell on Dee-Dee, and he became suddenly silent. The subject of his attention became very still, avoiding his gaze.

"Doctor, there's been some sort of accident," Donna said gently, placing both hands soothingly on his shoulder. "You jumped into the water after, uh, Dee-Dee and I, and you almost drowned."

"But how is that even possible? I can swim," the Doctor said dubiously.

"I _know_ you can swim," Donna said impatiently. "But you were drowning. I saw it. So did she." She jerked a thumb towards Dee-Dee, who looked embarrassed at all the attention. "I had to pull you out and give you CPR and everything."

"But I can swim." The Doctor looked strangely detached with the situation, seeming stuck on the fact that she might not believe his swimming skills.

"I _know_, Spaceman," she snapped without bothering to suppress her supreme annoyance. "But the point is, you didn't even try to save yourself. Unless it was all some trick to stop me from pummeling Dee-Dee over there, which I really doubt. How daft do you think I am? And you weren't even breathing when we got you out. I had to jumpstart both hearts before you even started breathing again!"

"But I can swim," the Doctor echoed himself musingly.

"We get the _idea_!" Donna bellowed angrily, huffing an exasperated sigh. "Don't you remember me punching Little Miss Tried-to-Kill-You in the face? We fell into the lake, and you jumped in after us?" She tried desperately to jog his memory. At least he still seemed to remember both her and himself, or things would have been very dire. She'd heard of amnesia before, and didn't want to take the chance that the Doctor had it. That would have been utterly disastrous.

"Oh yes," he said quietly, looking away and focusing on the wet concrete. "I tried to stop you, but you wouldn't listen to me. And then you punched her, and you both fell in…" he recounted, paling a few more shades, if that was even possible. He coughed weakly, turning his head politely away as he did so.

"Doctor, I think you need to get checked out," Donna noted, brow furrowing. "You're not doing so well."

The Time Lord chuckled with some amusement, though it didn't really seem to fit the situation. "The Doctor going to see a doctor. Never thought I'd hear something like that," he managed to say, before coughing again.

"I'm _serious_, Spaceman," Donna said gravely, to emphasis her point. "You don't really seem like…yourself."

"That's insulting, Donna Noble. And everyone is always saying that _I'm_ rude. Rude and not ginger."

"Now see what you and those other shuttle people did to him?" Donna demanded, turning to Dee-Dee. "You made 'im bloody mad!"

"He wasn't like this on the shuttle," Dee-Dee whispered. "And this is different. He almost drowned. That's traumatic in itself, I'd say."

The Doctor heaved himself into a sitting position, then gagged and coughed again. "I haven't been this sick since the time I accidentally drank that poison," he rasped. "Remember, Donna? The giant wasp who was disguised as a human? You _kissed_ me, to give me a shock." He grinned cheekily, then his eyes rolled back in his head. He slumped to the ground with a muted thud, and several of the bystanders gasped at this startling new development in the unfolding drama.

"Is he going to be all right?" Dee-Dee asked faintly.

"He should be, after a few dozen ticks in bed. He's going to rest whether he likes it or not, if it's the last thing I do," Donna stated firmly. "He'll probably try his best to avoid it, but I won't allow any of that. He needs rest, especially after what happened on the _Crusader 50_." She shot Dee-Dee another scathing glare; one that she was sure could almost catch something on fire. She couldn't have the girl thinking that they were actually friends, after what she and all the others aboard the shuttle had put him through.

"Do you need some help? I doubt that you can get him to your room without some help," Dee-Dee observed nervously.

"He's as skinny as a rake; he can't be _that_ heavy." Donna stood up and grabbed the Doctor by his arms. She pulled as hard as she could, but it was like she was tugging on something that was bolted into place. "Maybe…I was…a bit…off," she grunted, dropping his upper body back to the ground with a disgusted look. She shot appraising glances at the gathered crowd of humans and aliens around them, which caused most of them to scurry off to avoid getting volunteered to assist her. "Some help _that_ lot was," she scoffed with a heated scowl.

"Like I said before." Dee-Dee hesitated, then gave a small smile. "Which side do you want?"

* * *

Donna dumped her half of the Doctor onto the sofa, which made Dee-Dee stumble and drop the rest of him. He rolled off the edge of the couch, still unconscious, and landed on top of the poor girl, knocking them both to the thick carpet. She squeaked, more from surprise than in pain.

Donna muttered something unsavory under her breath, then knelt beside the jumbled pile of limbs. Shoving with all her strength, she managed to push the Doctor back onto the couch. Once she had firmly settled him on his back, he looked much more peaceful. If not for the pronounced shadows under his closed eyes and the whiteness of his skin, he would have looked almost normal. Oh, and then there was the black leather diving suit that he was still clothed in, since Donna hadn't been about to undress him and put him back in his normal suit. She was sure that he had loads of spare suits stuffed in the TARDIS somewhere.

"What should we do now?" Dee-Dee murmured, as though worried she would wake the Doctor. Donna personally doubted that the task was even possible, since he seemed to be sleeping like the dead.

"I don't really know. Does this place even have a telly?"

"_No_." She looked exasperated. "I meant about, um, the Doctor. Shouldn't you be more worried about him?"

"He'll be fine, after some sleep. Then I'm more than ready to get back to travelling. I've had bloody enough of this place."

"Maybe you should, you know, get him some food from one of the pavilions," Dee-Dee said sensibly. "Swimming in the slyvivin fish enclosure always makes you lose several pounds, because of the gravity there. I don't really know the specifics. And since the Doctor swallowed quite a lot of that water…"

Donna nodded. That matched up with what the Doctor had been rambling on about earlier, so she was probably telling the truth. She was still pretty suspicious of Dee-Dee, but decided to trust her judgment for the moment. "Spaceman really shouldn't lose any weight. He'll shrivel away to nothing before too long, with all that running that he does."

"I'll help you, if you want," Dee-Dee offered helpfully, sending a worried glance at the sleeping Doctor. It was plainly obvious that she was much more worried about the Doctor than Donna, who was simply convinced that he would sleep it off.

The Doctor's current companion almost refused, then decided that it would do well to have some assistance in gathering some nourishment. Besides, she didn't even know how to find her way around. Not that she would ever tell Dee-Dee this. "Fine, might as well be useful," she sniffed haughtily. "Lead the way, I suppose."

Dee-Dee bobbed her head once, still seeming nervous, then hurried out into the hallway. She paused until Donna had followed and latched the door behind them, then continued on. They walked in silence through the complicated maze of brilliantly gleaming hallways. Donna couldn't tell if they were going to same way that she and the Doctor had gone that morning or not, only that plenty more people were out and about. They passed several groups of laughing and chatting beings, some of them with appearances that made Donna try her best not to stare.

Finally, after what seemed like quite a while, Dee-Dee walked through a doorway and into a large room. It was completely white, from the walls to the gathering of chairs to the marble front desk. Donna could smell a variety of different foods, and realized that she was actually pretty hungry, despite the enormous breakfast she had consumed that morning. Maybe there really was something to the losing-a-few-pounds-from-the-lake-water theory.

Dee-Dee approached the desk, peering over it to meet the eyes of the pink-skinned woman sitting behind it. "Hello," she said politely. "I need three of the slyvivin fish enclosure specials, one of them in the extra-large size."

"Yes, right away," the woman promised in a musical, bell-like voice. "Your number is 674; please take a seat."

"We have to wait?" Donna questioned as Dee-Dee sat down on a snow white chair. "There aren't even any other people here. This is bloody horrible service." She dropped down in the chair directly across from the one the dark-skinned girl had taken.

"Do you think that the Doctor will be all right?" Dee-Dee reached up as though to adjust her glasses, then looked a little lost when she remembered that they had been left behind for the slyvivin fish. She shuddered violently and rubbed her arms. "The expression on his face…it was so much like what he looked when he was being drained by the creature two days ago." She closed her eyes for several seconds, rubbing them with the backs of her hands.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Donna said confidently. She arched a brow as she realized what a crucial chance she currently had, in the form of the quiet girl sitting across from her. She could find out more about the _Crusader 50_ and what had occurred in the sixty minutes when its passengers had been waiting for rescue. Dee-Dee seemed like a good source for information, since the Doctor hadn't sounded even a peep, which was really saying something for him. He was usually smacking his gob like a man possessed. "Now…tell me about what happened that day. On the shuttle, that is," she clarified in a soothing voice.

Dee-Dee opened her eyes and stared up at the blindingly white ceiling. "It was horrible. Just horrible," she said in a low voice, clearing her throat. "First there was that horrible pounding on the walls, then the Hostess tried to step into the cabin, and we found that it was gone. Just gone." She shivered again. "There was all that blinding light, then more pounding. Then the train was shaking, and Sky Silvestry was screaming…"

Donna leaned forward, clasping both hands tightly in her lap. "It must have been terrible," she encouraged sympathetically.

"That wasn't even the half of it. Then Sky was repeating everyone, and we all started screaming. All except the Doctor. He was crouched in front of her, trying to figure out was wrong with her, to help her. When Sky began speaking exactly when the rest of us did, he ushered us to the back so we could talk without being so close to her.

"But then the Professor and some of the others started accusing him of being in league with Sky. They were all shouting, and we almost didn't notice that Sky wasn't repeating anymore. That is, until the Doctor started talking. Then he went back to her and got down on her level, and started telling her that he could help. This long, drawn-out speech." Dee-Dee swallowed hard before going on. "But then he stopped for a few seconds, and Sky spoke before him, with _his_ voice the one delayed.

"The creature inside Sky, whatever it was, insisted that she was free, and that the Doctor was possessed. The others helped her away from the Doctor, and acted like she was actually one of us. The Doctor was the one repeating by now. No one would listen to either the Hostess or I when we both tried to tell them that something was wrong."

Donna managed to nod woodenly. It sounded horrifying; it was no wonder that the Doctor was so unwilling to tell her about what he had experienced that day. She decided that it had to be one of the things he was always burying within himself and trying not to think about. One of the things that he hid behind that grin of his, and the constant chatter.

"Then I'm not entirely sure what happened next. Everyone was trying to throw the Doctor out the door, and they were all trying to lift him up off the floor. The Hostess was shouting something, and she rushed forward and grabbed Sky. She hit the door button, then that bright light exploded into the shuttle. We were all crying out, and I could feel the sunlight making my skin tingle, since I was so close to the door. Then both of them were sucked out." She stopped speaking, the tale evidently finished.

"I…how awful," Donna croaked, her mouth suddenly dry.

"Yes," Dee-Dee agreed solemnly. "Yes, it was."

A bell rang out merrily from the front desk, and the pink-skinned woman called out, "Order 674, please!"

Dee-Dee stood and hurried up to gather the plastic bags, while Donna slowly stood. She smoothed a strand of hair back from her forehead and inhaled a shaky breath. The story that Dee-Dee had just told her had made goosebumps break out on the exposed skin of her arms. She vowed mentally that once the Doctor had recovered from his near-drowning, she was going to have a nice, long talk with the bloke. And she certainly wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Dee-Dee joined her again, holding out two of the plastic bags, which Donna took. One was marked with a large red X, which she studied with a furrowed brow. "What's all this, then?" she demanded.

"The bag with the X is the special, which the Doctor should eat because of the drowning incident," Dee-Dee explained, leaving the room and starting rapidly back to where they had first started out. "And it's all a certain type of food that's prepared for everyone who goes swimming with the slyvivin fish."

"Well, that's…_wizard_," Donna said, raising both eyebrows until they almost merged with her hairline. "I suppose it'll work, if we can ever rouse the Doctor. He was completely dead to the world. I doubt he'll ever move again."

Dee-Dee pushed open the door to the correct room, then stumbled to a halt. She stared at something for several moments, then turned to face Donna with wide eyes. "Are you sure about that?" she asked in a shaky voice.

Donna pushed the girl aside, still clutching the two bags, and peered into the room. Her jaw dropped when her eyes landed on the empty couch, where the Doctor had been sleeping when they had left. "Where the hell has he wandered off to _now_?" she cried angrily. "It's like takin' care of a flippin' _kid_!"

Dee-Dee looked a little taken aback, staring at Donna with the facial expression of a person who was currently facing down a mad woman. Her gaze shifted towards the empty couch. "He was right there on the sofa when we left," she said worriedly.

"I know that," Donna said through gritted teeth, striding into the room. She dropped the two bags of steaming food onto one end of the couch, scowling fiercely. Planting both hands on her hips, she gazed around the room as though expecting the Doctor to pop out from behind a potted tree and grin cheekily at them. It really seemed like something that he was capable of.

"Where could he have gone?" Dee-Dee spoke up, hesitantly venturing into the room and placing her bag of food beside the others. "You don't have any friends here that he could be visiting, do you?"

"Of course not," Donna snapped, annoyed. "You could say that we're from quite a ways off. But knowing Spaceman, he's nipped off to visit some alien bloke that he hasn't seen for half a century or so." She added this last bit mostly to herself, speaking under her breath.

Dee-Dee's eyes widened at the puzzling words, but she brushed her confusion aside for more important matters, such as the Doctor's vanishing act. "Well, where're we going to look for him? We can't just let him wander about after he nearly drowned like that," she pointed out sensibly. "He's out of his head, and he wasn't doing so well when we pulled him out of the water."

Donna looked at the sack containing what she had rather hoped would be her afternoon tea. The delicious odors were still radiating from the bag, making her hungrier than ever. Heaving a sigh, she dropped her hands and turned towards Dee-Dee and the door. "Fine, let's go. If we don't find him soon, he could walk into a door or something. I don't think he's in his right mind at the moment."

Dee-Dee hurried back into the hall, pausing as Donna stormed after her, brutally slamming the door behind her. "We're supposed to be _resting_ after what happened in that library, he said. But _no_. Instead, I'm chasing after 'im, throughout this whole bleeding _resort_!"

"Um…I'm sure we'll find him soon, with both of us looking," Dee-Dee said encouragingly, seeming to automatically assume that she was coming along to help with the search. Donna didn't disagree; it would certainly come in handy to have someone along to help her find her way round the resort. She hadn't even a clue about how to get about the place. It was absolutely enormous.

"Which way d'you want to go first?" Dee-Dee inquired, politely allowing a green-skinned couple to pass them by. She looked at Donna expectantly, awaiting an answer to her question

"Um…that way, I'd wager," Donna said smartly, pointing randomly towards the left. If memory served her correctly, that was the way that they had gone to get to both the lake with the fish in it and to pick up the food. So there were probably other attractions in that direction, drawing people in like flies. And the more people that were around, the more possible witnesses that could have seen the Doctor pass them by. He wasn't easily forgotten, in Donna's opinion. She knew this personally, after she had refused his offer of travelling the first time round. She had really come to regret that spontaneous decision.

"Right, then." Dee-Dee marched in a business-like way in the way that Donna had pointed. The latter hurried to catch up, tugging uncomfortably at her rubber suit from the lake, which she still wore. She hadn't yet had time to change, and it was really starting to bother her. Once dry, the suit was highly uncomfortable. "Maybe some people have seen him around somewhere," the girl added hopefully. "That would really help with our search."

"Well, at least he can't go outside or anything," Donna spoke up optimistically. "We only have this place to pick over, instead of the whole planet. It definitely narrows down our search margins."

Dee-Dee nudged Donna as they approached a blonde woman, who was talking flirtily with a rather handsome man. "Shall we ask them?" she consulted in a hushed whisper.

Donna moved around the girl, clearing her throat loudly. Both turned to look at her, and she noted that they seemed completely human. What a relief. She didn't think that she could just strike up a chat with a pair of five-eyed squid people, such as the Doctor would never hesitate in doing. "Excuse me, but have you seen a man go by here?" she asked, daring to hope that the Doctor had been sighted heading for the loo, or something equally simple.

"Could you perhaps be more specific?" the woman tittered mockingly.

Donna's eyes narrowed. "Tall, dark-haired, looking slightly dazed and utterly mad? Wearing a suit from the sly…sli…slvvy…the big lake thing with the fish in it? Oh, and as skinny as a walking rake?" she added as a last resort.

"Hmmm, no. Doesn't really ring a bell." The woman studied her companion in a calculating way, then leaned towards Donna to hiss in a stage whisper, "But if you see him, tell him that my communicator digits are 777-823-654-099-032-310-2020, yeah?" she rattled off.

Donna arched a brow with mild disgust. Even when only hearing his description, every woman in the galaxy still seemed to fall for the Doctor. "Sure thing. I'll tell him that right off the bat, lady," she said sardonically, striding past the couple and down the gleaming hallway. Dee-Dee hurried after her, sending one last look over her shoulder at the pair.

"Weren't much help, were they?" Dee-Dee said sadly, disappointed that they hadn't picked up a lead to the Time Lord's whereabouts.

"Not particularly." Donna sighted a woman wearing a white staff uniform just ahead, and rushed to flag her down. "Have you by any chance seen a skinny bloke dressed in a suit from that fish enclosure pass by here recently?" She quickly added his description for good measure.

"No, sorry." The woman continued on her way, leaving Dee-Dee and Donna looking deflated behind her.

"Who am I kidding? This is going to take _hours_!" Donna declared hopelessly.

A soft buzzing sound unexpectedly rang out, and Dee-Dee fumbled into her pocket. "Really, I would have thought that it'd been ruined in the slyvivin water," she announced, though not in a particularly angry voice. Holding up a small black device, she flipped it open and studied a gleaming screen full of scrolling numbers. The temp from Chiswick could only assume that it was the modern equivalent of a cell phone. After a moment, Dee-Dee closed the device and slid it slowly back into her pocket. Her features settled into a sad expression.

"Who was it?" Donna questioned boldly.

"The professor," Dee-Dee said quietly. "I haven't spoken to him since the shuttle. Not after all those cruel things he said to me. He basically told me that I was an idiot, just because I said that I didn't think Sky was telling the truth about being free from the creature." She shook her head solemnly. "I really thought he was different, that he thought highly of me. But it turns out that I was apparently just an assistant to him, someone to tote his things around and fetch him another cup of tea." Her dark eyes sparkled with something that looked suspiciously like tears.

Donna frowned, not sure what to do when confronted with the possibility of a weeping girl. "Fine, then. Good for you to be rid of him, I'd say."

"We've been travelling together for some time. I can't believe it's really over. And we'll never find the lost moon of Poosh, I suppose," she said solemnly.

Donna pulled a face at the girl's predicament, feeling even sorrier for her by the minute. "I–"

"It's all right," Dee-Dee stated firmly, cutting in. "It's more than time for me to move on to other things. And right now, we really need to find the Doctor."

"Yes we do," Donna agreed reluctantly, trying her best to focus on the problem at hand. "Who knows what trouble he's gotten himself into by now."

"Let's head towards the south canteen," Dee-Dee suggested, veering sharply to right. "There are always plenty of people always there, since it overlooks the planet's surface safely through a glass wall. Maybe someone there has seen the Doctor around there somewhere."

"We can only hope," Donna muttered under her breath. She followed Dee-Dee through several winding corridors, until they eventually reached their destination. Donna was forced to pause for several seconds and sharply draw in her breath as she gazed at the amazing sight before her. The sparkling glass wall, though fifteen feet thick like the rest of the dome protecting the resort, hid none of the amazing view. Mountains that looked as though they were made of crystals and diamonds sparkled in the deadly sunlight. It was absolutely gorgeous, and Donna had to fight to tear her eyes from the glass wall.

"Let's split up," Dee-Dee suggested. "Then we can ask more people between the two of us. Perhaps we can get some information that way."

"Sounds about as good an idea as I've heard so far," Donna muttered under her breath, walking in the opposite direction of Dee-Dee and beginning to circulate through the room. She paused at a table where four or five humans were enjoying tea, asking politely, "Have you by any chance seen a tall bloke in a rubber suit, probably looking confused, pass by through here?"

"Sorry, but no," a dark-haired woman answered. She turned away, casually picking up her conversation as though she'd never been interrupted.

Donna walked over to the next table, but before she could even open her mouth, a woman sitting before her snickered, "Didn't you know that the slyvivin fish are two halls to the right of this place?" Her friends laughed as though this was the funniest thing they'd ever heard. And it probably was, since none of them looked of very high intelligence.

Wisely holding her tongue, she marched on to the next table and quickly rattled off the Doctor's description, hoping that maybe these would be the last people she would be forced to inquire of. Maybe they had seen the Doctor around. But unfortunately, no such luck. The answer was negative, though almost every woman (human or not) expressed an interest in meeting the human-looking alien. Donna continued to move on, slowly but surely asking round the whole room. She received none of the answers that she was hoping for, much to her disappointment.

Finally, she met up with Dee-Dee in the center of the domed area, brows drawing together into a displeased frown. "Useless, this lot. First no one even stepped up to help us save the Doctor from drowning, and now this," she stated irritably. "I'm not recommending this place to any of my mates, that's for sure." Not that she really could,. What would she tell her mates back home, in the twenty-first century? _Oh, Marge, next time you take a trip, don't pop a few hundred years into the future and head to that planet with the deadly sunlight, Midnight?_

"No one's being very helpful around here," Dee-Dee agreed with a shrug. "I asked them all, but none of them had seen the Doctor around."

"What are we going to do now?" Donna wondered, folding her arms across her chest. "Should we maybe start searching in the halls again?"

Dee-Dee had a thoughtful look on her face. Unexpectedly, she brightened. "Maybe we could go to security. They've got cameras absolutely everywhere in this place. They could access one near your room, and trace the Doctor's path throughout the resort."

"Would they just hand out information like that? They might think it's violating some important protocol," Donna said ruefully.

"Well, I'm sure that we can, um, _convince_ whoever is working behind the desk that he needs to check for us," the girl said boldly, lips twisting into a shy smile.

Donna grinned at her when she got the drift. "You know, I think that having you around could come in handy, Dee-Dee Blasco," she stated enthusiastically. After uttering the words, she realized that she sounded almost like the Doctor. Now there was a scary thought, indeed.

* * *

It only took about five minutes for them to navigate the way towards the security center. It was deep within the resort, taking up a sizeable amount of room directly in the middle of the place. Donna was glad that she didn't have to find the way on her own, for the pristinely white tunnels were all exactly the same, with no distinguishing details.

Once they had arrived, the former passenger of the _Crusader 50_ made her way through the proper door and into a perfectly round room. A handsomely clean-shaven bloke sat behind a shining counter, his drooping head perking up when the two woman walked in. "How may I help you lasses?" he asked, with a definite Scottish accent. This one was very easy on the eyes, in Donna's opinion.

"I'm Donna, and this is Dee-Dee," Donna declared importantly, leaning across the counter. She craned her neck to study the man's name badge. "_Daniel_, we really need to look at some security footage from earlier today. Just a little bit ago, yeah?"

"Why would you need to do that?" Daniel questioned suspiciously, cocking a brow. "Guests aren't supposed to have access to the cameras, no matter who they happen to be. I've had countless guests insisting that it was a matter of life and death to check out the camera records, and've nearly gotten fired a couple of times."

Donna batted her eyelashes at him. "See, it's very important that we see the footage. Our friend has, well, gone and gotten himself missing."

Daniel looked disappointed. "Your friend's a lad?" he asked bluntly.

"No, my, uh, _brother_," Donna lied quickly. "That's right. I meant to say my _brother_ had gone missing. He's a bit too fond of his afternoon drink, to tell you the truth, and I'm afraid that he's wandered off. Who knows what he could be up to right now!" While she was inventing this whole brother scenario, she might as well add a few other details. Why not? Though it pained her to even imagine the Time Lord as her brother. Heaven forbid.

"Well, then." Daniel's spirits seemed to have risen again. "In that case, I think I'll be able to help you out. You can't have your brother wanderin' about on his own, now can you?"

"Oh, no. Of course not," Donna said gravely. She winked at Dee-Dee as Daniel began typing something on his highly-advanced computer. _So there, Doctor! I wonder what you'd say if you could see me _successfully_ using my woman wiles,_ she thought smugly, remembering their trip to the future with Martha Jones.

"What room do you have?" Daniel looked up curiously from the computer's screen.

"Why?" Donna asked guardedly.

"So I can locate the correct camera," he said, eyes innocently wide.

"Oh, right. It's suite 406, registered under 'the Doctor'. I think so, anyway."

"Ah, so your brother's a doctor, then?"

"Right. So can you hurry up with the cameras, please?" She wanted to get out of there before Danny boy came onto her even more. She preferred people from good ol' planet Earth, not some place out in the depths of space, where you couldn't even go outside without turning into a pile of blackened ash.

Daniel was silent for several seconds, fingers skating along the keys. Then he finally said, "Here, I think I've got something. It's from about half an hour ago. A tall bloke with dark hair, right?"

Donna leaned around the counter, peering awkwardly at the computer screen as best she could from her position. She managed to pick out the Doctor's lanky form as he staggered from the room and down the corridor. He constantly fell heavily against the wall, his face glazed oddly over. "Yeah. Yeah, that's him!" she shouted excitedly, jabbing one finger towards the compact computer. Daniel jumped with surprise at her outburst.

"Really?" Dee-Dee tried to look around Donna's shoulder, without much success. "Where did he go?"

"So you want me to trace his position, then?" Daniel verified.

Donna nodded eagerly, still balancing across the counter as she ogled the computer. She watched as Daniel navigated along the Doctor's stumbling path, following him as he bypassed the lighted, more cheerful hallways and headed along the gloomy ones. He made his way to a heavy metal door and sleepily pulled out his sonic screwdriver, aiming it at the door lock.

"This is current footage," Daniel announced with a frown. "Your brother is live, breaking into the personnel-only section of the resort. It's way out on the fringes, near where this place ends. Why on earth would he be out there? I might need to call a couple of security officers in, I'm afraid…" His voice trailed off, failing to create the image that his threat was dangerous.

Brow furrowing, Donna watched as the Doctor fumbled with his sonic, trying to open the door despite the fact that he highly resembled a walking zombie. "What's down there?" She remembered that they had parked the TARDIS down in a dark and dank place like that, but it had been some sort of spaceship parking lot, not an employee-only section.

"Nothing, except the exterior air locks leading outside. Not that they get much use, considering that anyone who sets foot outside would be incinerated," Daniel admitted.

Donna kept staring at the Doctor on-screen, for some reason thinking back to that dream he'd had just last night. Back to the cryptic things he'd told her, right after waking up. _"I was dreaming about the creature that inhabited Sky. It's impossible…but I dreamt that it was waiting for me."_ That's what the Doctor had said. That the creature was waiting for him. And today, he'd mentioned being cold and paralyzed. According to Dee-Dee, that was exactly what had happened to him on the shuttle…

"Oh my God," she gasped, finally working out what was going on with the Doctor. She knew why he was near the exterior seals. She whirled to face Dee-Dee. "Oh my God. Oh my _God_!" She added these for good measure, to get the seriousness of the situation across. "He's going to try to go out there with the creature! Why else would he be mucking about near there?"

Dee-Dee's face became several shades whiter. She looked just like a ghost. "But why would the Doctor be going out ther–"

Donna didn't give her time to continue her train of thought. She instead spun round to face the bemused security officer. "Daniel, how do you get down there?" she demanded urgently. "Hurry up an' tell me!"

Daniel made a face. "Well, leaving this office, head to the right. Then take two lefts, one right, a left, another left, and one more right," he drawled. "Then you'll be where you need to be."

"Thanks!" Donna dashed for the door, Dee-Dee right on her heels. Slamming the door open so that it crashed into the wall behind it, she raced towards the right. She only hoped that she would manage to keep all the directions straight in her head. If she got lost before reaching the Doctor, who knew what he would do. In a mad trance like that, he was bound to wander right to his death. And even though he'd survived some bad things before, there was no chance of him just bouncing back from being burned to death.

"Oi!" shouted an orangely-tanned woman as Donna barreled past her at breakneck speed, nearly crashing into her. "Watch where you're goin', lady!"

"No one's ever taught _her_ any manners, obviously," Donna muttered with annoyance under her breath, continuing on without pause. Concentrating hard, she pulled Daniel's directions to mind, following them to a T. Dee-Dee was right behind her, panting breathlessly as she tried to keep up. Donna was already used to running long distances, after being with the Doctor for such a long time, so she had no trouble keeping up the pace.

Finally, she skidded to a stop in a dingy hallway, which obviously wasn't as well-maintained as the rest of the place. The floors were scuffed, and though the walls had obviously once been painted white, they were now a dull shade of gray. The hanging spider webs only doubled the eerie funhouse effect. Apparently, not many of the paying guests ever ventured this far.

Donna definitely recognized the hallway as the one from the live security footage. And the door just ahead, which was slightly ajar, made her even more certain. She jogged to the door, pausing to examine the blackened lock. Yes, the Doctor and his sonic screwdriver had certainly come through here.

"Why would the Doctor be trying to get outside?" Dee-Dee asked breathlessly, chest heaving up and down as she tried to get enough air into her winded lungs. "Has he gone crazy?"

"I don't know," Donna murmured. "But I don't think that he's really himself right now. We have to stop him, no matter what." She pressed one hand against the sticky metal of the door, shoving it forward. It creaked ominously open, revealing a dark room full of machinery and dusty boxes. The only light came faintly from several bulbs attached to the ceiling. "Creepy, this place," she uttered nervously, eyes scanning the shadowed darkness.

"Right you are," Dee-Dee mumbled, biting down hard on her lower lip. "But where's the Doctor?"

"Blimey, I hope he hasn't already gotten out." Donna's eyes widened at the thought of hearing the Doctor's agonized screams as he boiled to death, knowing that there was nothing she could do for him. And then that would leave her trapped in this dirt heap, with no way back to her own time. The Doctor had been teaching her some about flying the TARDIS, but not nearly enough. He for some reason didn't seem to trust her skills, though she couldn't begin to imagine why.

"He hasn't," Dee-Dee said with grim determination. "The Doctor would never do something like that. I'm sure that he'll regain control of himself in no time. Maybe he already has," she added hopefully.

Donna didn't answer, venturing deeper into the darkness. She avoided bumping into a box as a sign with red lettering caught her attention. It was suspended carefully from the ceiling, and cheerfully announced in several different languages that the door leading out into the x-tonic sunlight was straight ahead, and that all needed to beware. Both her hands curled into tight fists. _Hang on, Doctor. I'm coming for you, so just hang on,_ she thought, hurriedly rounding another haphazard stack of boxes.

She froze, Dee-Dee bumping roughly into her back, as her worried eyes fell upon the Doctor. He was standing ramrod straight, right in front of the door leading outside. One of his hands was raised, as though trying to guess the password for door's opening mechanism. Donna gave a sigh of relief as she saw this. Not even the Doctor could randomly guess a password out of the blue like that. There was no way that he was getting out into that sunlight.

And then her worst fears were confirmed. Behind her, Dee-Dee gasped as the passcode bar beeped shrilly and flashed red, signaling that the correct code had been used. The door was now authorized to open.

Donna leapt forward, adrenaline spurring her on. "Doctor!" she cried in horror, as his hand landed on the knob of the door and slowly turned it round.

**

* * *

**

Please review, yeah? I would really love to hear from you! :D


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: **Sorry, but I don't own _Doctor Who_. I know, it's hard to believe. :P

**A/N: **Yes, this is a new update. Will miracles never cease? O_o If any of you are still reading, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Three

Donna launched herself at the Doctor. She landed on top of him just as he turned the knob all the way round, knocking both of them heavily to the concrete floor. All the breath was forced from her lungs, and she heard the Doctor grunt in surprise. "Dee-Dee! The door!" she managed to gasp out, the image of both of them being turned into piles of dust by the x-tonic sunlight all too clear in her mind's eye.

If the Doctor got them both killed like this, then she was going to bloody _kill_ him.

She heard the sound of running footsteps, then Dee-Dee was leaning over her, jerking the door shut just in time. The opening mechanisms clicked and rolled, swiftly sealing the door again. The girl sagged against the wall beside the door, relief very evident on her face.

"Donna?" The Doctor shifted slightly under her, and Donna quickly climbed to her feet. She busied herself with smoothing out various wrinkles and brushing invisible dust from her suit to hide her worry. He rolled over onto his back, a groggy expression on his face. "Where are we? And…why am I still dressed in _this_ thing?" he added, gesturing down at the leather diving suit he was still wearing.

Donna exchanged a glance with Dee-Dee, whose dark eyes were owlishly round. "You don't remember?" she asked suspiciously, still trying to catch her breath.

"Well…I remember you two pulling me out of the slyvivin fish enclosure, then…nothing." The Doctor narrowed his eyes, strangely enough not even _trying_ to ramble. He was being almost uncharacteristically silent.

"I think it's happened again, obviously," was Dee-Dee's quiet remark to Donna. "He claimed not to remember what happened when he fell in the enclosure earlier, just like he's doing now."

Donna fixed a stern look on the Time Lord, folding her arms. "I think this has got something to do with what happened on the _Crusader 50_," she stated. "And that creature."

Dee-Dee looked afraid. "Do you really think so?"

"What are you two on about?" the Doctor wanted to know. "And can I get changed back into my suit? I can't think very well in this thing. It must be the magnetic state of the grade twelve nanochips woven into the material. Also, I'm _starving_."

"Yeah, whatever, Spaceman." Donna reached down and roughly grabbed his arm, hauling him back to his feet. "The food's probably cold by now, since we had to look all over creation to find you."

The Doctor, back on his feet, stumbled slightly. He nearly fell right back down onto the floor, but Donna managed to catch him just in time. She swung his arm around her neck to support most of his weight, pretending not to be as concerned as she actually was.

"Shall we head back, then?" Dee-Dee questioned softly, looking awkward.

"Yeah," Donna agreed, nodding once. "And we'll get Spaceman here caught up on what he's been up to lately, since he _says_ he doesn't remember."

"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed with much outrage. "I _can't_ remember anything! And don't act like I'm not here," he added as an afterthought. His voice was full of an unsteady sternness that didn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of his two companions.

"Shut your gob," Donna told him firmly, "so we can tell you what's been happening while you've been gallivanting round the entire bloody spa."

"She's right, Doctor," Dee-Dee advised solemnly. "I'm afraid that talking in your weakened state can use up a lethal amount of energy."

The Doctor scowled, obviously not in the best of moods. "Blimey. I think I liked it better when you two were fighting."

* * *

Approximately ten minutes later, the Doctor, Donna, and Dee-Dee were all settled onto the couch in their little rented suite of rooms, chowing down on the cold food. The Doctor had already worked his way through most of the food inside the bag with the X marked on it, and Donna and Dee-Dee had just finished filling him in on the situation.

"Are you two _sure_ about this?" the Doctor asked dubiously, stuffing something that sort of resembled a chip, only a strange blue color, into his mouth as he spoke. He had already changed into his normal suit again, during a quick side trip to the TARDIS, and Donna had also dug up some of her own clothes. "I don't remember any of it, which is very interesting in itself. Time Lords have _brilliant_ memories, and I can remember just about everything that's ever happened to me. But there's always a first, I suppose." He grinned cheekily, rummaging round in his bag for more food.

Donna socked him in the arm, ignoring his wounded yelp. "So, got any ideas then, Spaceman? Since you're so _brilliant_?" she demanded cynically.

The Doctor shrugged, his mouth once again crammed with food. "Whale, pusechion it cmng t' mank," he managed to say around the food, words coming out in a garbled mess of nonsense.

Donna arched a brow, exchanging a look with the bemused Dee-Dee. Then she calmly took a bite of food from her own sack, waiting patiently.

The Doctor swallowed, then cleared his throat. "I _said_ that possession comes to mind," he repeated himself with exasperation, crumbling his empty paper bag into a ball.

"_Wha'_?" Donna croaked with shock, nearly choking on a blue chip.

"I've been having strange dreams lately," the Doctor replied, seeming obvious to her concern. "About…you know. And these gaps in my memory are pretty alarming. Plus, nearly drowning? _Blimey_, I won second place in the Scækænævian version of the Olympics. And that's saying something, since you had to swim through a gravity field with seventy-pound weights tied to your legs." The Doctor pulled a face at the memory.

"So you're saying that you think that _thing_ from the shuttle is possessing you?" Donna demanded, blue eyes wide.

"Yeah, basically," he answered nonchalantly, brushing crumbs from his shirtfront. "Donna Noble, you're brilliant, you are."

Dee-Dee looked slightly embarrassed. "Um…Doctor? I never said…I'm sorry about what happened on the _Crusader 50_," she murmured awkwardly. "I should have at least tried to stop the others, instead of hiding in the corner like a coward."

The Doctor carelessly waved a hand, dismissing her apology. "Ah, don't worry about it, Dee-Dee. Everyone makes mistakes. Well, I _say_ everyone. Mostly just you lot, humans." He shrugged, then his brow furrowed. "Ummm…no offense."

Dee-Dee looked more puzzled than offended. "You said something like that on the shuttle," she remembered quietly. "Like you weren't human, weren't one of us."

The Doctor grimaced as he recalled the way everything had finally gone down the drain at that moment. His little slip of the tongue had turned everyone else against him, and the use of his John Smith alias hasn't exactly worked. Why humans found the name so hard to believe, he'd never know.

He swallowed the irrational moment of fear he then experienced as the time he had spent frozen, drowning in darkness, surfaced in his memory. He gave Donna what he hoped to be a suitably sufficient look, trying to ask her mentally to change the subject. He didn't really want to talk about what had happened on the shuttle any more than was necessary.

"Could we please get back on-subject now?" Donna demanded loudly, getting the meaning behind the look the Doctor shot her. "We've apparently got Spaceman here being possessed, which I'd say is a _little_ more important, yeah?"

Blushing, Dee-Dee quickly nodded. "Right. I'm sorry," she said apologetically.

"So, Doctor." As Donna turned back to face the Time Lord, she couldn't help but notice the strange look that flashed through his expressive brown eyes. But it was gone before she could manage to place it. "What would that thing want with you? You said it possessed that Sky woman, and was only _draining_ you, right? So did it decide it wanted to be best mates or something?" As weird as _that_ sounded, Donna had seen much stranger during her travels in the TARDIS.

"Somehow, I doubt that," the Doctor said with a wry grin. "But it's a good idea, Donna. Very _Friends_."

"Uh-huh. And what's _your_ theory about all this?"

"I think the creature unintentionally created a biometrical connection between us when it was draining me through Sky. It probably didn't expect me to escape alive, after all. And now it wants me to show up at its lair so it can finish the job." The Doctor shrugged. "But that's just a theory, of course. What do I know?"

Donna gawked at him. "Its lair? As in, out there in the poisonous sunlight somewhere? That's _mad_!"

"I expect that the creature's lair is somewhere safely underground. Even a creature that can be present outside in the x-tonic sunlight surely needs to get away from the rays at some point," the Doctor mused, tapping three fingers against his lips. "Or maybe it astrally projected its spiritual form to the _Crusader 50_, and its real body exists somewhere deep underground."

"Doctor…you're not going to _go_ to the creature, are you?" Donna asked nervously. "Just because it's making such a big deal about calling you to it and all that?"

"No, 'course not. Why would I go and do such a daft thing?" the Doctor scoffed unconvincingly. "I'm going to stay right here at the resort, where it's nice and safe. Well, I _say_ safe."

"But won't the creature try to summon you again?" Dee-Dee spoke up tentatively. "And over and over until you finally come?"

"Naw. I'm not going to pop in for tea, no matter how many times the creature asks me to. I doubt it serves very good tea at all."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Well, creatures who astral project and try to lure their prisoners to them usually don't serve very good tea, to be brutally honest," the Doctor informed her. "It's a well-known fact, all across the cosmos."

"She _means_, how are we supposed to keep you from getting yourself hypnotized and sauntering off to be burnt to a crisp?" Donna said bluntly, crumbling up her empty food sack into a ball.

"Oh. Right. Well, that's an easy enough answer. You'll restrain me," the Doctor said, like this much was obvious.

"Restrain you? How the hell are we supposed to do that?"

The Doctor tapped his chin with a single finger. "I've got a glass jaw. One hard punch in the right spot usually puts me out cold. That would give you enough time to tie me up with some rope or something," he said casually. "Then I'll be right as rain whenever I'm myself again. As opposed to burnt to a crisp, that is."

Donna stared at him. "We're supposed to _punch_ you in the _face_?" She would never have admitted it, but she didn't fancy purposefully hurting her travelling companion. They were the best of mates, and showing him her best right hook didn't sound that appealing.

"C'mon, Donna. Don't tell me the thought doesn't appeal to you," he said, flashing a disarming smile.

"Not really, no," she snapped. "If I kill you, who'll fly the TARDIS?"

"I have one small question," Dee-Dee interrupted. "What's going to happen if the creature can't get you to come? Won't it be angry?"

"I'd imagine so! All that energy wasted on summoning me with no results! That would equal one _angry_ bloke."

"What's it going to do? And how did it expect you to get to its lair in the first place?" Dee-Dee questioned insistently. "Even with some sort of special suit, it's not possible for a human being to survive more than 2.3 seconds under the x-tonic sunlight."

The Doctor shrugged. "Wellllll, I haven't exactly figured that out yet, actually. It'll come to me soon enough, I expect."

"She's got a fair point," Donna said. "If the creature really wanted you to come to its lair that badly, it wouldn't just force you to incinerate yourself, now would it? It must have some idea on how you can get there, _without_ instantly dying."

The Doctor stood and began pacing the length of the small living room, while Donna and Dee-Dee stared at him. "A way to get to the lair…without burning up…x-tonic sunlight…" He was silent for a brief moment, then sudden realization dawned on his face. "Ah-_ha_! Molto bene!" he suddenly shouted, making both women jump.

"What?" Donna demanded irritably.

"There's got to be some kind of tunneling system connecting its lair to the resort!" he exclaimed excitedly, turning round to face them again. His eyes were wide and shining.

"Is that bad?" Dee-Dee ventured.

"Oh yes. Very very very verrrrry bad. Think horribly, catastrophically bad. With three scoops of bad on top of that. If the creature can make it here, into the resort, it could drain hundreds of innocent people of their life forces."

"And the not-so-innocent," Donna said cheerfully, thinking of all the people who had been standing round and staring as the Doctor drowned, not lending a hand to help.

"Couldn't it just astral project itself here, like it did before?" Dee-Dee wondered.

"I've been thinking about that," the Doctor said, starting to pace again. He clasped both hands behind his back. "Maybe, unlike its real body, its astral form can only exist under direct rays of x-tonic sunlight. The ultimate opposites. That would explain why it can only infect those venturing out into its domain, the unexplored terrain of Midnight."

"So what you're saying is that the creature's real body could probably come here at any time?" Donna asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, basically. It's probably going to wait until it sees that I'm not going to come right to it. Then it'll make its move. Probably. If I were guessing, which I am, that's what I'd say."

"Then we need to find out if there's any sort of tunneling systems leading away from the resort," Donna decided.

"Donna Noble, you are a star. That's _exactly_ what we're going to do!" the Doctor said brightly, starting for the door.

A buzzing sound loudly rang out, coming from Dee-Dee's pocket. Shooting Donna and the Doctor an apologetic look, she pulled out her communicator and studied the small screen. "Oh. It's the professor again," she told Donna sadly, face falling. She quickly slid the small device back out of sight.

"Shall we go?" the Doctor asked awkwardly, not really wanting to talk about the professor right then. That would doubtlessly lead to fresh questions about the events of the _Crusader 50_, courtesy of Donna.

"All right," Donna agreed. "One question: where are we going, exactly?"

"To security," the Doctor explained. "Hopefully, I can get some of the blokes there to let me study a map or two of the place."

Dee-Dee and Donna exchanged sly smiles. "We already have an in with security, actually," the dark-skinned girl said wryly. "We can introduce you."

The Doctor looked pleasantly surprised. "Lovely. Allons-y!"

* * *

Donna pushed open the door of the security office, Dee-Dee and the Doctor right behind her. The Scottish security guard, Daniel, still sat behind his desk. He visibly perked up when the two women entered. "Donna, Dee-Dee! Did you find…" He trailed off when he saw the Doctor, who rocked back on his heels and politely wagged his fingers. "Oh. So this is your brother, then?" he asked suspiciously.

The Doctor blinked with confusion. "Brother…?"

"Yeah, this is him. Daft bugger that he is," Donna declared brightly. "We just came to ask you another favour, if that's all right. Very important, Daniel." She leaned across the counter and delicately batted her eyelashes at him. "If you're not too _busy_, that is…"

Daniel cleared his throat, accidentally knocking a stack of papers to the floor when he tried to straighten his uniform. "Oh! Yeah, I'm not. Too busy, that is. What d'you two lovely ladies need?" he asked hoarsely, sparing the Doctor another suspicious glance.

"We need a look at any maps of the resort that you happen to have handy, Danny boy," the Doctor proclaimed enthusiastically. "Anything showing service tunnels, maintenance exits in the basement, that sort of thing."

"It's Daniel," the security guard said flatly, frowning at the Doctor. "Not 'Danny'."

"No Danny?" the Doctor asked, obviously disappointed. "Not even a Dan? Blimey, you're formal."

"Ignore him," Donna said loudly, stepping between the two men and giving the Doctor a stern look.

"We _really_ need to see those maps, Daniel," Dee-Dee murmured. "It's very important."

Daniel chewed his lower lip, obviously thinking hard. "You're not going to be using them to sneak about the resort, are you?" he asked waveringly.

"Of course not," Dee-Dee said. "We just want to look them over, that's all."

Daniel was obviously not the brains behind the security of the resort. He nodded reluctantly, then used a key from the lanyard round his neck to open a drawer of the desk. He pulled out a thin stack of maps and handed them over. The Doctor instantly grabbed them and began flipping feverishly through the various sheets of paper.

"Thanks very much," Donna told the guard. "We'll bring them back soon, I promise." _Fingers crossed,_ she added silently.

"What? You're taking them?" Daniel bleated, leaping to his feet and nearly tripping over his chair. "I could get _fired_ for something like that!"

"I'm _really_ sorry, Daniel," Dee-Dee said soothingly, backing towards the door. Donna followed her example, tugging the Doctor after her, even though he didn't look up from the collection of maps. "We'll bring them back shortly, all right? Then we'll get together and do something. _Without_ Donna's brother?"

Daniel nodded eagerly, eyes lighting up. "All right, then. Come back in a couple of hours, when I get off duty!"

"Sure, we will," Donna lied convincingly. "Bye for now." She hurried out into the hallway, closing the door behind them. "Fat chance," she muttered scathingly. "He may be a handsome bloke, but he's spare a few brains, to tell you the truth."

Dee-Dee giggled as the three of them began to walk along. "I think you're right, Donna."

Donna smiled; she was beginning to like the girl, despite their rough start. Dee-Dee Blasco was growing on her a little. "Oi, Doctor! Find anything yet?" she asked him loudly, stepping aside to avoid a pair of women hurrying past. They both waved coyly at the Doctor, who predictably didn't seem to notice.

"Yes, actually," he announced, brow creasing as he glanced up from the maps. "There's a service tunnel directly under the resort, not far from where you pair found me earlier. From what I can figure out, it leads to a work station about three hours walk from here, fifty or sixty feet under the surface of Midnight. This map isn't the best I've ever looked at, mind, but–"

"The creature's lair," Donna realized, eyes widening.

He nodded. "I'd expect so, yeah."

"It's going to come when it realizes you're not," Dee-Dee whispered.

"Probably."

"And what do you intend to do about it?" Donna demanded, stopping and firmly planting both hands on her hips. "We can't just stand round and do _nothing_!"

"I'm _not_ standing round and doing nothing," the Doctor declared, looking outraged. "I'm working on coming up with a plan, and I think I've almost got–" He broke off and stared straight ahead, maps fluttering from his hands to land softly on the carpet.

"You call _me_ a drama queen! You're the bloody king of it!" Donna bellowed angrily.

"You call me a drama queen. You're the bloody king of it."

"Don't start trying to fool me, Doctor. I've had enough of that for one day! And we need to start figuring out what to do about the creature," she said heatedly, folding her arms.

"Don't start trying to fool me, Doctor. I've had enough of that for one day. And we need to start figuring out what to do about the creature," the Doctor echoed dully, staring straight ahead.

"Oh my God," Dee-Dee whispered quietly, grabbing Donna's arm. The Doctor repeated this as she went on in a hushed voice, "Donna, he's possessed again. That's exactly what the creature did to Sky on the _Crusader 50_!"

Donna's blood ran cold as she stared at the Doctor, who was expressionlessly repeating all of Dee-Dee's frantic words. "What do we do now?" she blurted, feeling an uncharacteristic surge of panic. She'd never seen the Doctor like this, and it was terrifying.

"I thought _you_ would think of something!" Dee-Dee cried, sounding just as afraid.

"Give me a minute; I'm sure something will come to mind." But the bad thing was, Donna didn't have a clue.

**

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Okay, if there's anyone out there who's still reading this story, who hasn't given up when I didn't update for ages, please review. :D


	4. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer: **Sorry, but I don't own _Doctor Who_. I know, it's hard to believe. :P

**A/N: **OMG, I just updated in _less_ than a year's time! *jaw drops* Thanks to Time Lady 802379, BlueEyes444, twilightplotbunny, superherofan95, KsandraMallan, BensonBabe, pipinheart, SparxFlame, ArmoredSoul, blackrose5242, and charliebrown1234 for reviewing. :)

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Chapter Four

For lack of any better ideas, Donna grabbed the Doctor's shoulders. She then proceeded to shake him as hard as she possibly could, until his teeth were chattering sharply together inside his head. "Doctor, snap out of it!" she bellowed, directly into his face.

The Doctor stared straight ahead, nonplussed. "Doctor, snap out of it," he repeated calmly, though the words came out a bit garbled thanks to Donna shaking him so violently.

"Donna, don't!" Dee-Dee cried, attempting to pry the feisty redhead away from the defenseless Time Lord. "You'll hurt him!"

"Donna, don't. You'll hurt him."

"Oh shut up, you," Donna snapped. She released her grip on the Doctor's shoulders, but gave him a generous push at the same time. He fell backwards into the wall with a thud, then dropped to the floor. Even as he hit the carpet, he still managed to repeat her words.

"That's not the Doctor talking," Dee-Dee said. "He's possessed, I'm sure of it!"

Donna stared at the Doctor, who continued to drone the words they spoke. He looked somewhat pathetic, crumpled on the floor as he was. And yet there was something about his eyes, those dark eyes that always seemed so _old_. They looked much like they had when he had been drowning earlier, like he was silently pleading for help.

"Oh my God, what are we going to do?" she said, suddenly growing worried as Dee-Dee's words sunk in.

"I don't know," Dee-Dee said, her face several shades paler than usual. It was obvious that the Doctor's continuous echoing was already starting to get to her. "The only way we stopped the creature last time was to get rid of its host..."

"Which was that Sky woman," Donna mused. Then she turned accusingly. "Don't even _think_ about it! There's no way we're tossing the Doctor out into that sunlight! No way in _hell_!"

Dee-Dee quickly held up both hands, making soothing gestures. "That's not what I was thinking, honestly," she said quickly. "I was just saying that I don't know how to stop this."

Donna huffed loudly, folding her arms. "Well…good. Because no matter what happens, the Doctor's staying with me. Got it?"

Dee-Dee nodded mutely.

And then, as though to contradict her words, the Doctor stumbled jerkily to his feet. He looked for the world like a puppet that had been suddenly connected to its strings again. He stared straight ahead, towards nothing in particular, then took a slow step forward. Then another. And another.

"What's he doing?" Dee-Dee whispered, as though afraid to break the strange silence that had suddenly blanketed them.

"How should I know?" Donna snapped. "_He's_ the telepathic one, not me!"

"…Telepathic…?"

The Doctor continued to stumble jerkily forward, without once looking back. Donna stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly realized that he was getting away. "Oi! Where d'you think _you're_ going, Spaceman?" She jogged after him, Dee-Dee right on her heels. "Doctor! Doctor, I'm _speaking_ to you!"

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to care. Eyes glassy, he ceaselessly repeated her words in an eerie undertone without even looking at her. His face was pointed straight ahead, as though the empty corridor was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen.

"He's going to meet the creature, isn't he?" Dee-Dee blurted.

"Not if I can help it," Donna said. "Oi, Doctor! Hold it right there!" She grabbed his shoulder, intent on spinning him around to face her. She'd once had a boyfriend, long before the traitorous Lance, who'd had the unfortunate habit of not bothering to look at her when he spoke. He'd been gone in a matter of days.

But instead of spinning helplessly round, the Doctor resisted. He swung one arm out, catching Donna in the waist and thus knocking the breath out of her lungs. She staggered back into the wall with a gasp and fell to the carpet. Dee-Dee blinked owlishly, staring back and forth between the others. The Doctor stared expressionlessly at them for a few seconds, as though daring them to make another move, then turned and disappeared around a corner.

"That is _enough_ of that!" Donna bellowed, staggering back to her feet. She angrily straightened her shirt. "If he thinks he's just going to pop me one and make off to meet that creature, he's got another think coming! I am _not_ going to be stranded on this planet!"

With that, she raced around the corner after him, intent on showing him just what she thought of the way he was behaving.

And crashed into a wall of black clothing.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

Donna squinted suspiciously at the young bloke blocking her path. He was a nothing but a teenager, with black clothes and nail polish. Apparently, times hadn't changed _that_ much in the far future, she thought disgustedly.

Dee-Dee appeared behind them. "Jethro?" she said with surprise.

The bloke looked at her. "Oh, right. You're that one from the shuttle. Darcy or something, wasn't it?"

"Um, Dee-Dee," Dee-Dee said.

"Oh, right. Dee-Dee."

"Sorry to break up this little reunion, but I've got a Spaceman to stop," Donna said, shoving past the bloke and striding importantly down the hall. Just ahead was another curve in the wide corridor, around which the Doctor had just turned. Much to her disgust, both Jethro and Dee-Dee followed, Jethro apparently for lack of anything better to do.

"So what's going on here, then?" Jethro asked curiously. "Was that the Doctor bloke from the shuttle I saw go through here? Is that who you're chasing?"

"Yes," Dee-Dee said.

"What did he do this time?"

"Um, it's actually rather complicated to explain…"

Donna, ignoring them both, finally got within sight of the Doctor again. Biting her lip, she hurried up behind him. His instructions from earlier floated through her mind: _I've got a glass jaw. One hard punch in the right spot usually puts me out cold. _Determined not to back out, she again grabbed him by the shoulder.

This time she was ready when he swung for her. She leapt out of the way just in time, right hand in a fist. As he tried once more to knock her block off, she lunged, bringing her fist up towards his face. It crashed into his jaw, and he froze in midair. He stared wordlessly at her for a second, obviously shocked, then collapsed to the floor.

Donna immediately dropped to her knees beside him and rolled him onto his back. She clumsily checked for a pulse, and was immensely relieved to find that he was only unconscious. "Remember, Doctor, you asked for it," she said.

"What'd you do that for?" Jethro asked, though not sounding very alarmed.

"He's possessed," Donna said, offering no other explanation.

Realization dawned on his face. "Ohhhhhhh, like what happened on the shuttle, right?"

Donna stood. "Yeah. I'm Donna. And you were on the _Crusader 50 _as well?"

He nodded. "Parents made me. But it kinda turned out to be a little interesting, you know? Stranded in the middle of nowhere with that weird thing trying to get in. It was _wicked_."

_Men,_ she thought irritably. "Well, Jethro, why don't you help us get the Doctor back to our room? He's a lot heavier than he looks."

He hesitated, frowning a little. "Well, it guess it couldn't hurt," he said finally. "Mum's off at the spa, and Dad's gone rock-climbing."

"Great, thanks. Take his feet, will you?" Donna bent and grabbed the Doctor's shoulders, heaving them up into the air with considerable effort. She pretended not to notice the odd stares she got from a pair of blonde women wrapped in fluffy robes, who chose that moment to stroll past.

She waited until Jethro had stuffed what was possibly a very futuristic iPod into his pocket and picked up the Doctor's trainers. Then she started backing down the hall, peering over her shoulder for anyone who might appear in her path and trying not to trip at the same time.

Dee-Dee, who was nervously keeping pace with them, said suddenly, "What happens when he wakes up? Do you think he'll still be…like that? That's farther than he's gone before in his possession. Since the shuttle, anyway."

"I hadn't really thought about that yet," Donna admitted breathlessly, mentally deciding that once this was all over, she would make sure the Doctor went on a diet. He was skinny as a rake, true, but much too heavy than could be healthy for any human being. Or in his case, any _Time Lord_. "We'd best tie him up, just to be safe."

"Tie him up?" Jethro grunted.

"Of course," Dee-Dee said. "We've got to keep him from getting to the creature."

"What creature?"

"The creature trying to lure him back to its lair," Dee-Dee explained.

"Why would it want to do that?"

"Oh, keep _up_, would you?" Donna demanded crossly. "The creature wants him because they have a connection from the _Crusader 50_!"

Jethro glared at her. "Sor_ry_," he muttered, in a voice that didn't make him sound very sorry at all.

"That's enough lip from _you_, mister," Donna said sternly. "God, I can't stand teenagers."

"Who exactly are you, anyway?" he demanded. "You the Doctor's wife or something?"

"No!" Donna exclaimed, very nearly dropping the Doctor. "Why does everyone keep bloody _asking_ me that?"

"Excuse me?"

Donna looked up, seeing the tall man in uniform for the first time. "Oh, Daniel!" she said, recognizing him as the security guard who had helped them twice before. She kept walking backwards down the corridor, determined to make it to her destination. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I'm off duty," he said. "But I really should be asking you what _you're_ doing. Why're you dragging your brother through here? Too much to drink again?"

"Oh, so you're his sister, then," Jethro said.

"Shut it," Donna told him. "Yes, that's right," she said sweetly to Daniel. "Too fond of his brews, daft old bugger."

"We're almost there," Dee-Dee said.

Donna nodded vigorously, without speaking. If she never again dragged the Doctor's unconscious body down another hallway, it would be too soon.

"I really should report you, you know." Daniel was for some reason keeping pace with them instead of continuing to wherever it was he'd been headed. "All four of you. You're causing nothing but trouble throughout the resort!"

"I don't know these people," Jethro said.

"You're helping Donna with her brother, aren't you?" Daniel persisted.

"Yeah, but I just stumbled on him in the hallway," Jethro said defensively. "And he isn't drunk. He's possessed by some _creature_."

"Creature?" Daniel said. "What, have _you_ been drinking, _too_? Too much alcohol consumption in the public areas is forbidden, you know."

"Sorry, Daniel, won't happen again," Dee-Dee said quickly, before Jethro could open his mouth again.

The Doctor moaned, turning his head. Donna sped up the pace a little more. She needed to get him safely secured before he woke up again. She'd seen how violent he'd gotten when they'd stopped him from going to the creature, and didn't want to chance it happening again.

"Hey, are you sure he's all right?" Daniel said. "He's…there's a bruise on his chin! Has he been in a fight or something?" He reached out and curiously touched the Doctor's chin, then abruptly jerked his hand away. He stopped walking and stared silently after them, eyes wide.

Donna raised her eyebrows at Dee-Dee, continuing on around the last corner before they again reached the right room. "Well, nice talking, Daniel! What a nutter," she added in an undertone.

Dee-Dee opened the door as the group approached it, brushing against a glass box containing a fire alarm and sturdy-looking ax in her hurry, and Donna and Jethro carried the Doctor over to the couch. They dropped him unceremoniously onto it. He moaned, eyelids fluttering.

"Quick, hold him down," Donna said. "I'll get something to tie him up with." She rushed into the tiny bedroom where she'd been sleeping, digging through her bag. She finally decided on a pair of charcoal-colored leggings, since she didn't exactly have any rope handy.

She took the leggings back out, and while Dee-Dee and Jethro held the Doctor in an upright position, tied his wrists tightly together. Donna stepped back and surveyed their handiwork. "There, that ought to hold him," she said. "And my mum said those leggings were _worthless_, when I first bought them. Ha!"

Jethro flopped down onto an armchair. "So what now? We sit here and wait until your brother wakes up?"

"No, _you_ go back to your parents," Donna said. "Dee-Dee will help me get him to the TARDIS as soon as he's conscious, so we can _leave_. And he's not my brother."

Dee-Dee looked crushed. "Leaving? Where?"

"What's a TARDIS?" Jethro wanted to know.

Donna ignored him. "Anywhere but here," she answered Dee-Dee. "First there was that bloody Library, and now _this_. The Doctor can't ever seem to keep himself out of trouble, even on _vacation_."

"He's waking up," Jethro said excitedly, leaning forward in his chair. He peered at the stirring Doctor like he was an exotic beetle trapped under a glass.

Donna stepped up beside the couch, but was careful not to get too close. "Doctor?" she murmured. "Doctor, you all right?" She waited to see if he would repeat what she said or not.

He slowly opened his eyes, grimacing. "Why does my jaw hurt?"

Donna looked to Dee-Dee, who nodded briskly. "I think he's back to normal again," the girl said.

Sighing with relief, Donna sat down on the very edge of the couch. She leaned over and untied the leggings. "Oh, that. I hit you. Just like you told me to," she made sure to add.

The Doctor nodded, like such a thing was perfectly reasonable. He rubbed idly at her freed wrists. "And do you mind me asking exactly _why_ you hit me?"

"You don't remember _again_?" Dee-Dee cried, obviously aghast.

"You were possessed. Again," Donna said. "Only this time…you were repeating everything we said."

The Doctor stared at her, and something strange passed across his face. "Oh," was all he said.

Donna leaned over and touched his forehead with the back of his hand. "Do you have a fever? Since when has your only comment been 'oh'?" she demanded.

The Doctor impatiently brushed her hand away. "We need to get to the TARDIS," he said.

"So we can leave?" Donna asked hopefully.

"No, so we can get some things," the Doctor said. "I've got a whole filing cabinet full of cave-spelunking instruments. Don't ask me why, I really don't know. I just saw it all at a sale once on Gregadoun Four and thought, why don't I get some cave-spelunking instruments? So I did. Which now turns out to be a good thing, I suppose, though it was rather daft at the time. Or did I already say that?" He frowned with concentration, at the same time flopping weakly against the couch.

"You're mad," Jethro said, also leaning back into his armchair.

The Doctor started, staring over at Jethro as though he'd seen a ghost. He slowly relaxed again. "Jethro, hello," he said reluctantly. "Donna brought you, didn't she? She seems to be in the habit of turning up everyone from the shuttle lately, even though she hadn't before met any of you. I don't know whether or not to be irritated yet. I'm getting there, though. No offense, of course. I'm just really not in the habit of associating with daft humans who tried to incinerate me into dust."

Someone knocked on the door, and everyone stopped talking and looked in that direction.

"Who's that, then?" the Doctor wondered. "Someone order in?"

"No…" Dee-Dee said slowly.

"If that's my parents, I'm not here," Jethro said, hunching down farther into the chair.

"Why would your parents be looking for you _here_?" Donna asked. "They don't even know who we are."

He shrugged halfheartedly. "I dunno. But anything's possible with those two."

Donna, rolling her eyes, got up and walked over to the door. She for some reason felt a strange shiver of trepidation as she turned the knob. "Daniel? What are _you_ doing here?"

"Daniel. What are you doing here," the security guard said blankly. Then he swung an ax at Donna's head.

She shrieked, with equal amounts of surprise and fury, ducking out of the way just in time. With all her strength, she fought to get the door closed, bracing herself on the carpet with both feet and shoving hard at the door. "I could use some help, you lot!" Faintly, she could hear Daniel repeating her words out in the hallway as he fought to get inside.

Dee-Dee darted over, and leaned heavily against the door. Her slight frame unfortunately didn't provide much power. Neither did Jethro's, as he shuffled hastily over and added his assistance. The three of them could barely keep the door where it was, even though Daniel was their only adversary.

The Doctor sprang to Donna's side, and threw all his weight against the door. Digging his trainers into the carpet, he strained to hold the door in place and dig around in his jacket pocket at the same time. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," he mumbled to no one in particular.

"I'm still waiting for you to do something Spaceman-y!" Donna shouted breathlessly, gritting her teeth together as she struggled against the door. It had slipped open another inch, despite their combined efforts. Not long before Daniel – and his ax – could easily slither inside.

"Just…looking for…the screwdriver," he grunted distractedly.

"Well look _faster_!"

The blade of the ax unexpectedly burst through the wood right beside the Doctor's left shoulder and arm, with a terrible tearing sound. It withdrew again, leaving a red stain that stood out against the white paint.

"Doctor!" Donna cried, horrified. "You're hurt!"

"I'm fine," he said quickly, finally producing the slim silver device from the depths of his pocket. He expertly thumbed it to the right setting, just as the ax splintered another chunk of the door. Jethro yelped, leaping back before the ax could crack his head like a watermelon. The Doctor pointed the screwdriver through the small opening and pressed a button. The tip lit up, a brilliant blue.

The others heard nothing, but Donna saw the Doctor grimace and knew he was easily picking up on whatever sound the screwdriver was actually making, probably thanks to his super alien hearing. There was an odd noise on the other side of the mangled door, then everything went still.

The Doctor slipped the screwdriver back into his pocket without looking. "He's unconscious," he said, stepping back from the door. "Setting 2,458. Course, he'll wake up with a _nasty_ headache, but that's better than him slaughtering all of us with that ax of his. Nasty."

Donna rushed to grab the Doctor's arm, and studied it carefully. His sleeve was torn, and blood leaked steadily from a deep gash in the skin. The Doctor flinched as she prodded urgently at it. "Doctor, we need to get this taken care of, right away!"

He gave her an expression of exaggerated indifference. "Aw, I'll be _fine_. Just need to get myself fixed up in the TARDIS infirmary, and I'll be right as rain."

"Don't give me that," she snapped, trying to hide her worry. "You're bleeding like a stuck pig!"

He gave her his best wounded little boy look. "Really? A stuck pig? Donna Noble, I'm _disappointed_ in you. Couldn't you have thought up a description less…cliché? And I _really_ don't like being compared to a pig, to be honest." He quickly turned so that his injured arm, still bleeding, was out of her line of view.

"Fine," she snapped. "Bleed to death; see if I care!"

"I hate to interrupt," Dee-Dee said hesitantly, from where she was peering out into the hallway, "but Daniel is definitely unconscious now. It's safe."

"That's the same bloke you talked to in the hall," Jethro said. "Why'd he go all maniac and attack us like that?"

"Who knows with humans," the Doctor said. "You've all got your maniac bits."

"Oi!" Donna fired him an intense glare, not letting up until he looked properly abashed.

"I think…I know what happened," Dee-Dee realized slowly, eyes widening. "He touched the Doctor while we were carrying him down the hall, remember? Is it possible the infection…spread over to him? The creature could have possessed him as well, trying to use him as a token to get the Doctor to its lair."

Jethro backed away from the rest of them. "I'm not…am I?"

Donna turned angrily to the Doctor. "You better not have infected the rest of us, mister, or I'll kick your skinny arse all the way back to London!"

The Doctor winced theatrically. He fumbled in his pocket and once again displayed the sonic screwdriver. Its tip lit up, this time with a quiet buzzing sound, and he lifted it carefully up and down before Donna. Then he moved on to Dee-Dee, and Jethro. Both looked at him suspiciously.

"I've _told_ you before that I _don't_ like you bleeping me, Spaceman," Donna growled.

He tactfully ignored her, stowing the screwdriver away for a second time. "All of you are fine. The possession only leapt over to Danny boy, apparently. So!" He loudly clapped his hands together, making the other three jump. "Who's ready to go gather those spelunking instruments from the TARDIS?"

"Why?" Donna demanded. "You still haven't told us what for."

"Yeah," was Jethro's contribution to the conversation.

He grinned in a way that was quite mad. "Why, to go to the creature's lair, of course."

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O_O What d'you guys think is going to happen next? Well, I already know, since I'm the author. *cackles evilly, then awkwardly clears throat* Ummmmm, please review?


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer: **Sorry, but I don't own _Doctor Who_. I know, it's hard to believe. :P

**A/N: **Woo-hoo, new chapter! :D :D :D

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Chapter Five

"Are you _mad_?" Dee-Dee exclaimed.

The Doctor rubbed his chin musingly. "Yeah, probably. Just a little bit."

"Only a little?" Jethro muttered.

"Oi, that's enough of that," the Doctor said. "Teenagers. Human, Martian, Ggxlgian, you're all alike."

"Doctor, this is utterly _mad_," Donna said. She spoke slowly and distinctly in an attempt to get her words to soak into the Time Lord's brain. "We really need to get your arm looked over. And going to the creature's lair would be suicide, wouldn't it? We'd be giving it just what it bloody wanted: you!"

He looked down at his wounded arm, cut from Daniel's ax, which was still bleeding. His upper sleeve was disturbingly red. "I'll be fine until we get to the TARDIS," he said. "And what else are we going to do? Sit around like sitting sitting ducks?" He paused, frowning. "Bit repetitive, wasn't it? Sitting sitting ducks? Sitting sitting ducks… Anyway, we need to take the initiative, go and greet this mysterious _creature_ before it comes up here to greet _us_. As illustrated by what happened with this Daniel bloke, everyone in the spa could become possessed. Innocent people would _die_, Donna. And I'm not going to stand by like a sitting sitting duck and let that happen."

"I think he's right, Donna," Dee-Dee said softly.

"But we don't even know what this thing _is_!" Donna said, though she could already sense that she was fighting a losing battle. "Maybe it's a pile of, I don't know, glowing green jelly or something. It could be trapped down there in its underground lair, and we're panicking about it coming up here for _nothing_!"

"Donna, Donna, Donna. I've never known you to act like such a…a cowardly lion," the Doctor said, looking disappointed. She didn't say anything. Still staring at her, like she was the most fascinating example of a human being he'd ever seen, the Doctor's eyes lit up. "Oh, _wait_ a minute. Are you afraid something will happen to me? Are you _worried_ about me, Donna Noble?"

Highly conscious of the stares of both Dee-Dee and Jethro, Donna didn't meet his earnest gaze. "No," she mumbled unconvincingly. "'Course not. It's just…Doctor, this _thing_. After what happened on the shuttle…I've never seen you like that before. You were terrified. _Terrified_, and you'd never even seen the thing that was causing all the trouble. Why would you want to _go_ to it?"

He reached out and lightly touched her shoulder. "I'll be all right, Donna, I always am," he said. "Don't start worrying about me now. That'd be no fun."

"Uh, can we go now?" Jethro asked. "This is getting sort of awkward."

Donna stepped away, letting the Doctor's arm slip off her shoulder, and briskly cleared her throat. "Fine, then, we'll go meet this bloody creature thing," she said. "But if you get us killed, mister, I'll not let you get away without an _I told you so_!"

The Doctor meekly nodded his agreement, then turned to the others. "You lot coming or staying? Like she said, could get dangerous. We'll be venturing towards the creature's real, _solid_ form, not its astrally-projected essence that can only infect us. This form will be able to touch us, and do…well, just about anything, I suppose. Use your imaginations. Humans apparently have brilliant ones. Imaginations, that is."

Donna made a fist and lightly rapped her knuckles against the back of the Doctor's skull. "Hello, care to tell me how things are on Planet Doctor-the-Idiot today?"

He gave her an exaggerated look of hurt. "I was only–"

"Of course I'll come," Dee-Dee said, interrupting him. "I want to see how everything plays out. I've been along since the beginning."

The Doctor looked to Jethro. "And what about you, Jethro? Up for a little expedition into the depths of the planet Midnight?"

Shrugging, Jethro stuffed both hands into his pockets. "I guess I'll come, too," he said. "Sounds better than anything Mum or Dad could come up with. I think we were supposed to go get _facials_ later today. Mum's idea."

"Poor bloke," the Doctor said.

"Enough messing about, then," Donna said. "Let's go." She knew that unless she got them headed off for the TARDIS right away, they'd likely stand round talking for the better part of the day. The Doctor had quite a gob, and Dee-Dee and Jethro didn't seem opposed to blathering on with him for an unspecified amount of time.

And though she would never admit it, she was started to get rather worried about the Doctor. His face was paler than usual, and his arm was still bleeding. It needed to be seen to, and quickly.

The Doctor led the way, stepping around Daniel's unconscious body and into the corridor. He set off without looking back, evidently eager to get back to his TARDIS. The other three hurried along after him.

"So where are we going, exactly?" Jethro asked, almost as an afterthought.

"The TARDIS," Donna said.

"What's that, then?"

"I've heard both of you talking about it, but you never said what it was," Dee-Dee added.

"It's my time ship," the Doctor called over his shoulder. "It travels through time. Oh, and space."

While Dee-Dee looked startled, Jethro simply nodded. "Oh," he said. "How far away did you say it was, again?"

"I didn't," the Doctor said. He finally slowed his pace so that they could catch up with him, turning a corner. The white-painted walls were now a dull gray, and the floors were scuffed and dirty as they entered the staff-only area of the resort. "But it should be…just around….here!" He sprang around a second corner, a wide grin nearly splitting his face in half. "There she is, the _beauty_!"

The TARDIS sat in a corner of the small storage room, surrounded by crates and dusty boxes. Its wooden police public call box shell seemed to be glowing slightly. Donna had never been happier to see it. She felt like running over and giving it a big hug.

Dee-Dee seemed disappointed, while Jethro looked indifferent. "This is it, the TARDIS?" she said. "I imagined it to be, well…"

"Bigger?" The Doctor winked at Donna. He fumbled in his pocket and produced a dull silver key, dramatically pushing it into the lock. The door gave that familiar creaking sound as it swung slowly open, and the Doctor leapt over the threshold, disappearing inside.

Donna followed him, pausing at the doorway to look over her shoulder. Dee-Dee and Jethro still stood in the exact same places, looking confused. "Don't just stand there all day; come _on_!"

"Are you sure we'll all _fit_?" Dee-Dee asked.

Donna rolled her eyes and went inside, leaving the door open. Sure enough, Jethro and Dee-Dee followed just behind her a few seconds later, the door creaking closed.

Dee-Dee's mouth fell open as she stared about at the enormous room that had been crammed into the outer shell. "Oh my God. It's…it's…"

"Bigger on the inside," Jethro said.

"Bingo!" The Doctor, who had been taking off his jacket and folding it across the back of one of the battered chairs, beamed over at the teenager. "Bigger on the inside, that's the good ol' TARDIS. Very dimensionally transcendental. But bigger on the inside'll work, too. Want to say it again, just because? Hearing you humans say that, always makes my day, it does."

"Oh, shut up," Donna said. "Let's go fix up your arm and fetch those spelunking instruments. "You two wait here, got it?"

"My arm's fine, I swear. Looks good as new, see?" The Doctor proudly brandished his injured appendage. In the ghostly light of the control room, the blood all over his sleeve looked grotesque.

"Uh-huh, whatever, Spaceman. Come _on_." She grabbed his other arm and firmly pulled him after her, out of the control room. They left Jethro and Dee-Dee behind, both still staring round at the cavernous room stretching around them.

"Honestly, Donna, I'm _fine_," the Doctor said, as soon as they were in the long corridor outside the control room. "I just need a little time to heal, is all."

"Last time I checked, getting chopped in the arm by an ax was cause for a _bit_ of concern," Donna said, determined not to back down.

"Donna–"

"That's enough lip out of you. That creature'll wait, I'm sure," she said.

"–we're going the wrong way. The sickbay is _that_ way." The Doctor jerked his thumb towards a corridor they'd just gone past.

Squaring her shoulders, Donna turned and marched in the direction he'd indicated, not looking at him. He was probably struggling not to laugh as it was.

When they finally reached the correct room, a gleaming silver chamber full of weird alien devices that Donna made sure to stay far away from whenever she happened to be in this area, the Doctor sat down on a small examining table in the corner. Several devices automatically came down out of the ceiling and began poking and prodding at the wound. The Doctor winced and grimaced several times, despite his earlier protests that he was perfectly fine.

Donna thought of sitting down in a chair by the door, but thought better of it. She didn't want to chance activating some brain surgery program or summat. She leaned against a harmless-looking counter instead. "So have you decided what we'll do?" she asked.

"Do?" the Doctor asked distractedly, as a long silver tube began glowing green, close beside his arm. He eyed it with obvious suspicion.

"When we confront this creature thing," she said. "You've been going on about how we'll go down there and meet up with it, but you haven't said what we'll _do_ once we get there. What's happening in that big brain of yours, Spaceman?"

"I'll talk to it, I suppose," the Doctor said thoughtfully. The tube and all its metal companions retreated back into the ceiling, like they'd never even been there. The Doctor hopped down from the table and twisted to examine his arm. Donna was relieved to see that his skin seemed to be flawless again, perfectly back to normal. Even the blood that had been on his sleeve had vanished. "Give it a chance to stop this mad summoning business. That kind of thing."

"And if it won't stop?"

He finally met her gaze, dark eyes serious. "Then I'll have to _make_ it stop," he said.

* * *

After they gathered the Doctor's cave-spelunking from one of the many storage areas, Donna and the Doctor rejoined Dee-Dee and Jethro in the console room. Dee-Dee was standing beside the console, tracing her fingers lightly against it, while Jethro was sprawled on one of the battered chairs with his eyes closed. He seemed to have gotten over the wonder of the TARDIS' dimensional transcendentalism.

"Ready, you lot?" the Doctor exclaimed, dropping the box of instruments down on the chair beside Jethro's. The teenager sputtered awake, nearly falling to the floor but managing to regain his balance just in time.

"I think so," Dee-Dee said.

Jethro stood and stretched, then peered into the dusty box with interest. "What all this, then?" he asked.

"Those spelunking instruments I mentioned earlier," the Doctor said brightly. He handed Jethro a folded pile of orange material. "You'd best put that on over your clothes. And these as well." He now handed Jethro a hardhat with a halogen light on the front, and a pair of sturdy black wellies. Jethro looked baffled, stepping back a bit and studying the objects in his arms as though the Doctor had suggested he eat them for breakfast in the morning.

Donna accepted duplicates of everything the Doctor had given Jethro, putting down the hardhat and wellies and unfolding the orange suit. It felt rubbery but rough against her fingertips, and looked like a great canvas tent, several sizes too big for her. "I'm not wearing this!" she said. "It's _hideous_!" She held it out at arm's length in front of her.

The Doctor was already stepping into his, which just happened to be his exact size. It fit him perfectly as he zipped it all the way up to his chin and grinned at her. "I think you're right, Donna; orange is really more my color than yours," he said cheekily. "I quite like orange. Not only are oranges orange, naturally, but so are spacesuits. I have this one spacesuit that's orange, and I liked it so much that I got three more just like it."

"What's an orange?" Dee-Dee asked with a frown. She leaned against the console while fumbling to pull on her own suit.

"It's a fruit, the most brilliant fruit. Well, except for bananas. And apples. And grapes. Bananas are the best out of all of them. I love bananas. They were native to Earth back in its earlier years. The oranges, not the bananas. Though the bananas were, too. Are they still native there? If not, they should be."

"Shut up about bananas, will you?" Donna said irritably. She grabbed his shoulder for balance while struggling into the large suit. She angrily zipped it up, glad that there weren't any nearby mirrors for her to see herself in. She mashed the hardhat down onto her head and started slipping on the heavy wellies.

"I think they've got bananas in New South America," Jethro said. Clad in the strange garb that the Doctor had given him, he looked completely different. Orange didn't seem to be his color, either. Not that he seemed to notice, or care.

The Doctor opened his mouth, presumably to mention some sort of banana trivia, but Donna quickly cut him off. "I'm ready to get this over with," she said.

"Oh, Donna, where's your enthusiasm for adventure?" the Doctor said. "The thrill of the hunt is supposed to be big for humans. Mysteries, cave-diving, running. Doesn't that sound even mildly adventurous enough to get you excited?"

"Not really, no," Donna said. "I lost my enthusiasm for this particular adventure back when I found out we'd be taking the three hour hike to have a meet-and-greet with some vicious alien _creature_."

The Doctor looked disappointed. "Not even a little bit excited? Tiny bit? No?"

"Let's get going," Donna said.

"Allons-y," the Doctor said. He raced to the doors and flung one open, disappearing out of the TARDIS. Donna exchanged a weary look with Dee-Dee, and then she and the other two followed him outside. He closed the door with a sharp click as soon as everyone had exited the blue box, then they were off.

"From what I saw on that map Danny boy was kind enough to loan us earlier, that service tunnel should be somewhere in this direction," the Doctor said, setting off at a brisk pace. Donna almost had to run to keep up with him. Her wellies squeaked loudly with each step.

"I'm actually a bit nervous," Dee-Dee admitted as they hurried along. "I've never done anything like this before. And that creature…well, it really frightened me on the shuttle."

"It was weird," Jethro agreed.

"I'm…sure we'll be fine," Donna said, though she wasn't too sure of that herself.

They continued on through the dark corridors of the resort, searching for the entrance to the tunnel. They encountered no one, not even any staff, but Donna thought she occasionally heard the faint sound of guests talking somewhere far off.

Finally, they came to a large door with the words SERVICE TUNNEL 2295 imprinted in bold letters right above it. The Doctor grabbed the knob and turned it while the others watched silently. It swung open with a long, harsh creaking sound, revealing nothing but blackness. The cobwebs crossing the open doorway stirred slightly as a rush of warm, dusty-smelling air swept out.

"_Brilliant_," Donna said sarcastically.

"Time for the headlamps," the Doctor announced, switching his on while the others followed his example. Four blue-white beams cut into the darkness, revealing a long corridor that seemed to be carved from stone. It looked like something from a horror film.

The Doctor brushed away all the cobwebs then stepped into the tunnel. Donna let Jethro and Dee-Dee go ahead of her, the last one to enter the tunnel. She let the door fall closed behind her; the slamming sound echoed hollowly around them, sounding terribly final.

"This is so creepy," Jethro said, sounding pleased.

The Doctor looked delighted that at least someone was showing a touch of interest. He turned to look at them all, his face shining eerily in the light of the headlamps. "Off we go, then!"

"Yeah. Off we go," Donna muttered. Under the sleeves of her horrible orange caving suit, her arms were covered in goosebumps. She couldn't help the feelings of dread trying to overwhelm her, either. There was something horrible about this old tunnel, lurking in the air around them. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she did know that she really didn't want to be down here. She shivered and rubbed her arms.

Dee-Dee patted her on the shoulder, but said nothing. Her expression was tight, and her dark eyes were wide. Donna knew that she could feel it, too. Only Jethro and the Doctor didn't seem to be affected.

Donna took a deep breath. She hoped this adventure with the Doctor wouldn't be the last one she ever had. She really wanted to go back home and see her granddad again someday, preferably alive and not as a ghost.

_This is what you get for travelling with him,_ she told herself silently. _Dusty old tunnels and dangerous aliens._ She didn't like this one bit, but she knew deep down that this wouldn't stop her. She'd been scared so many times before, in Pompeii and in the Library and when they faced the Sontarans. But still she was with him, and she would be forever. There was no way around that.

They started walking.

**

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**

Please review! (Thanks in advance.)


	6. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer: **Sorry, but I don't own _Doctor Who_. I know, it's hard to believe. :P

**A/N: **Yes, I'm finally updating again. I lost my fan fiction mojo there for a while. O_O It was a dark time, friends, a dark time indeed. But I'm back now, so no worries! :D

Here's a bit of a recap, since it's been roughly NINE MONTHS since I last updated…  
_It's been two days since the incident on the Crusader 50, and the Doctor has a connection with the creature that attacked them. It keeps projecting its astral form into him, and causing him to either freeze or mindlessly repeat whatever anyone around him says, though he never remembers what happened after he wakes up again. Donna and the Doctor have met up with Dee-Dee Blasco, who is terribly embarrassed about her role in the events that played out on the shuttle, and wants to make up for what she did. They've also been joined by Jethro, who decided to hang around with them to avoid going to a facial with his mum. A Scottish security worker, Daniel, who quite likes Donna and thinks the Doctor is her drunken brother, was possessed by the creature after touching the Doctor, and attacked them. The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to force him into unconsciousness, and said that he'll wake up just fine. The Doctor's theory is that while the creature's actual body probably can't go out in the x-tonic sunlight, it can travel through the service tunnel connecting its lair to the resort in order to get its claws into him, and it would likely kill dozens of innocent people. He and the other three have donned bright orange caving suits, hardhats with halogen lights on the front, and black wellies, and headed into a dusty old service tunnel. They should reach the creature's lair, an old work station deep under the surface of Midnight, after walking for about three hours. And the Doctor has yet come up with an actual plan…_

* * *

Chapter Six

They had been walking for close to an hour, Donna thought. Her feet were aching, and her back hurt, and she had already come up with several creatively clever ideas about how to murder the Doctor for making them come on this stupid hike in the first place. She'd never liked caves, not since she'd seen too many horror films involving them when she was a teenager. If she'd had her way, she never would have set foot in one as long as she lived. Unfortunately, the Doctor had totally ruined this idea.

She was the only one who seemed to be out of her mind with fury, though. Dee-Dee constantly exclaimed over little crevices in the rock walls or small diamond rock formations, eyes bright as she looked around with awe. Jethro shuffled along with his hands in the pockets of the orange suit he wore. He'd gotten out what seemed to be the future equivalent of an iPod and put both earbuds into his ears. And the Doctor, of course, was having a brilliant time, bounding ahead and exclaiming over everything he saw and occasionally singing.

Donna hated him.

It was at this time that her mobile rang, the shrill sound seeming extra loud in the enclosed space. She pulled it from her pocket and checked the caller ID. It was her Gramps.

"What is _that_?" Dee-Dee said curiously.

"It's my mobile," she replied. When all she got was a blank expression, she said, "My communicator. You know, where people can contact me?"

She nodded. "Oh, of course."

"Better answer it, Donna. He's going to hang up sooner or later," the Doctor called over one shoulder. He was still marching on ahead. Donna didn't even want to know how he knew who was calling her.

She pressed the send button, hurrying to catch up with the others. The light from her headlamp bounced haphazardly across the slick stone walls. "Gramps?"

"Donna," he said warmly. "I haven't heard from you in a few days, sweetheart. I was wondering how you're doing."

"Just fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "The Doctor and I are at a resort with some new friends." No need to enlighten him about the fact that they were marching along under the earth in search of a creature capable of possession. He didn't need to worry. She could tell him about the adventure after this was all over.

"How lovely. Is it an," he cleared his throat, "_alien_ resort b' any chance?"

"Yeah," she said. "Yes, it is, Gramps. I'll send you a postcard as soon as I can, all right?"

"That would be wonderful," he said. He loved getting her postcards, almost as she loved sending them. Not that she could actually send them from the actual time or place where she bought them. She always picked them up and sent them from somewhere in the right time period, as soon as she and the Doctor dropped through again.

"How's Mum doing?" she asked.

"Look at this! Brilliant!" The Doctor had finally stopped walking, and the other two were huddled around him as they examined something just out of sight. "Donna, come see this!"

"Sorry, Gramps, I've got to go," she said. "Give Mum my love."

"Course. Love you, sweetheart."

"Love you, too." She hung up and took a deep breath. Talking to her granddad over her phone always gave her a sense of ridiculousness, and a touch of reality. It was ridiculous that she could be who knew how many years in the future, and speaking with Wilfred like she was only a few blocks away. But every time, she also realized that he was _dead_. She was talking to him, but he was supposed to already be dead. It made her head ache.

"Donna!"

She sighed, shaking away these troubling thoughts, and jogged over to join the others. "What is it now, Spaceman?"

"We won't have to walk the whole three hours," Dee-Dee said excitedly, stepping back so Donna could look. "Great, aren't they?"

What the others seemed so excited about was a pair of metal contraptions that sort of resembled four-wheelers, but smaller. They didn't look particularly safe, but Donna wasn't about to argue. "What are we waiting for? Let's get a move on," she said.

"I was hoping you'd say that," the Doctor said. He leapt onto one of the contraptions and leaned towards the handlebars. He was grinning brightly, so hard that his face had the potential to crack right in two. Donna rolled her eyes and climbed on behind him, sitting straight up to avoid touching her body to his.

Jethro and Dee-Dee got on the other one, Jethro sitting up and taking notice for a change. He took out his earbuds and clutched the handlebars. Dee-Dee didn't look particularly enthused at the thought of riding these things through the dark, narrow tunnel. It _must be a bloke thing,_ Donna thought.

"Allons-y!" the Doctor exclaimed. He pressed a button, and the contraption roared to life. He stepped on the pedal beside his right foot, and they shot forward at an incredible speed. Donna shrieked and threw herself at him, wrapping both arms round his waist to hold on for dear life. She heard Jethro whooping excitedly as he and Dee-Dee roared along behind them.

"If you get us killed with these bloody things, I'll never forgive you, Spaceman!" she shouted into his ear.

"Don't worry, Donna," he said over his shoulder. "These things are as safe as–" He broke off and swerved sharply to the left to avoid crashing into a wall. "Well, sort of safe. Safe-ish."

"Oh, God. We're going to die," she said.

"Don't be so pessimistic. Think of the glass half-full."

She socked him in the arm, taking some pleasure in the wounded yelp he made, then held onto his waist even tighter. If they made it through this alive, she was never getting on one of these things ever again. Except possibly to get back to the resort again. But other than that, never.

* * *

Time blurred together meaninglessly. Donna kept her eyes squeezed closed against the wind for most of the ride, and when she occasionally opened them to check their progress, she only saw darkness and glittering rock walls flashing past. The two engines roared, sound echoing all around them, and the Doctor and Jethro often whooped as they spun around a particularly sharp turn. It was enough to give her a terrible headache.

Just when she was sure they would be on the blasted things for all eternity, endlessly speeding through the underground tunnel, the contraption finally began to slow down. She opened her eyes and squinted ahead, watching in the blue-white beams of their headlamps as a large black hole up ahead slowly grew closer and closer.

She leaned forward and put her mouth to the Doctor's ear. "What is that?" she shouted, to be heard over the engines.

His answer was lost to her as he slowed to a complete stop and parked off to one side of the tunnel. Jethro and Dee-Dee pulled up beside them. As the engines cut off, the tunnel was filled with a sudden silence that was thick and heavy against Donna's ears, making them ache after listening to the engines for so long. She groaned and staggered off the contraption, grabbing the Doctor's arm when she almost lost her balance. Her legs were weak and shaky, and her head spun. From the look on Dee-Dee's face, she felt the same.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Jethro exclaimed, clambering off the second contraption with unnatural ease. The Doctor didn't seem to have any trouble as he got to his feet, either. Donna glared at them both.

"Right," the Doctor said. "It certainly beat walking, didn't it?"

"Not really," Donna muttered, rotating her neck to get the kinks out of it.

"Where are we?" Dee-Dee said.

"We've reached the work station," the Doctor said, throwing his arms wide at the black hole before them. It was like an enormous gaping mouth, Donna thought uncomfortably, her idea empathized even more so by the large stalagmites and stalactites that framed it like jagged teeth. "Allons-y!"

He started for the entrance while the others stood and stared, and was swallowed into the blackness. Donna exchanged a panicked look with Dee-Dee and Jethro, and the three ran to catch up with him.

Once past the opening, the work station could be illuminated with their headlamps. Dusty equipment was scattered throughout a large room that had been carved from the rock, and green and red lights blinked from several panels. The Doctor examined one of the panels, and brushed a thick layer of dust from one of the thick black wires.

"No one's used this place in ages," Dee-Dee said, walking over to some bulky gray _thing_ and examining it like she'd never seen something so brilliant. Donna had absolutely no idea what it could be, and didn't care. She was rapidly tiring of this whole experience.

"Probably no need to," the Doctor replied. He darted about the room, touching various objects and murmuring about them under his breath. "Things likely don't go wrong often with the shuttles, aside from the obvious experience we just had two days ago. Er, let me rephrase that. They don't _usually_ go wrong. If things did go wrong all the time, we'd have all the resort guests burnt to crisps under the x-tonic sunlight. Which would definitely be bad business for this place."

"I thought we were here to find that creature thing and kill it," Jethro complained to Donna. "I don't see a thing here, except old computeadatas and loads of wires. I could have stayed in my room and watched telly, and I would have been more entertained than this."

She took a deep breath and controlled the urge to throttle him. She _really_ couldn't stand teenagers, especially sulky ones.

"Look, I'm as bored as you are, if not more so, all right?" she said. "Once the Doctor's ready, we'll look for the creature." She watched as he and Dee-Dee bent over one of the panels across the room together. "And who said anything about killing it? We're not gonna _kill_ it."

"Why not?" Jethro said. "It could kill the Doctor, and all of us. Why shouldn't we kill it?"

"Because…because the Doctor isn't like that," she said lamely. "He doesn't kill the aliens and creatures we come across, not if we can help it. Besides, for all we know, this creature is some poor thing that's just calling out for help, or summat."

He snorted. "Yeah, right. That's why it possessed that bloke Daniel and had him come after us with an ax, then."

"_God_, I can't stand teenagers," she muttered, folding her arms.

Jethro made a gesture that must have been quite rude, and wandered away from her, around a corner by one of the blinking panels. Donna watched him go, then sighed. She couldn't just let him wander off on his own, no matter how bloody annoying he was. If something happened, it would be her own fault, and that wasn't something she particularly wanted on her conscience.

She hurried to follow after him, circle of light from her headlamp bouncing ahead as she walked. She cast a glance over one shoulder, debating on whether she should tell the Doctor where she was going, but he was still busy checking over a panel with Dee-Dee.

Ahead was another tunnel, this one smaller than the one they'd spent so long travelling through. Sapphire rock glimmered in the walls and ceiling as the light washed over it, and though Donna hated to admit it, it really did look beautiful.

The dull echo of footsteps came from just ahead, round another corner. "Jethro, just wait one bleeding minute, will you?" she called, jogging towards the footsteps. She ducked to avoid bashing her head against a particularly low-hanging stalactite, and went around the corner. On the other side was another large room, the ceiling disappearing far overhead. This one was empty of any equipment, though one area near the edge of the cavernous room was roped off in a square with orange tape. It was apparently a warning of some sort. And Jethro, predictably, was leaning over the tape to examine something inside the square.

"Oi!" Donna exclaimed. She caught him by surprise, and his arms flailed as he tried to regain his balance. As she stared, he fell forward into the square and landed with a wet squelching sound. And started to sink.

"Get me out of here!" he shouted, sputtering and choking.

She raced over and shone the light onto him. The interior of the roped-off square was filled with black, sandy muck. Jethro had landed right in the center of it, and was already up to his shoulders in it. "What is that?" she said, squinting at it. "And get yourself out. I'm not touchin' that!"

"I can't!" he yelped, and slipped another inch into the goo. "It's got me; it's really sticky!"

It suddenly occurred to Donna that the boy wasn't merely mucking about. She leaned closer, and saw that the black goo bore a terrible resemblance to some sort of alien quicksand. "Oh, God," she said. "Don't worry, Jethro, I'll get you out."

"Help!" he shouted, flailing his arms. With another thick squelching noise, he was sucked another inch under the goo.

"All right, all right, I'm coming." Ever so carefully, she climbed over the rope, standing on a narrow bare patch right beside the muck. Up close, it smelled absolutely disgusting, like sulfur. She tried to hold her breath, leaning as close to Jethro as she possibly could and grabbing him by the arm. Black, wet gunk clung to her fingers, but she tried to ignore it, grabbing onto his other hand as well and pulling as hard as she could. Jethro didn't move so much as an inch. In fact, he seemed to slip even deeper into the goo.

Donna swore under his breath. "Doctor!" she shouted, voice ringing deafeningly around them. "Doctor, come help me! Jethro's fallen into something, and he's sinking! I can't get him out! DOCTOR!" She could only pray he heard her, turning her attention back to the task at hand.

"This is disgusting," Jethro said, not sounding too horrified now. Only his head and part of his arms could be seen now. "I can feel it seeping into this suit. It's going to ruin my clothes, I just know it. My mum will bloody kill me."

Donna strained, pulling with all her strength, but Jethro didn't budge. Sweat trickled down her forehead, burning her eyes. "DOCTOR!" she shrieked again. "Don't worry, Jethro, he'll get his bony Time Lord arse here any second, and the screwdriver'll get you out. You'll see."

He grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut. He looked even paler than usual, face stained black in places. "I don't think so," he said, spitting a glop of black muck from his mouth. "Something's got me, Donna. I dunno what, but it's not just this stuff. I can feel it round my ankle."

She blanched. "What do you mean, something's got you? What kind of something?"

"I dunno. But–" He coughed and gasped, sucked deeper into the goo. His hands nearly slipped from Donna's. Another tug such as that one, and he'd go completely under. "You should let go. It's going to pull you under as well."

"I'm not leaving you to sink, no matter how annoying you are," she insisted. She looked back over her shoulder, but no one was in sight. "Doctor, where the hell are you? Doctor!"

Jethro's eyes went wide. "It's…got me…" And then he was sucked from Donna's grasp, down into the muck, vanishing completely.

"No!" Donna cried, falling to her knees beside the muck. "Jethro! Jethro, can you hear me?"

"Donna? Donna's, what's wrong?" The Doctor's voice. Finally.

She jumped up, whirling round to face him, as he and Dee-Dee came running into the cavern. "Something's happened to Jethro! He's been sucked under all this black stuff!"

Just as the words left her mouth, something reached out and fastened around her ankle. Even through the layers of the caving suit she was wearing, she could still feel how wet and cold it was. She didn't even have time to shout a warning before she was jerked backwards, into the goo. Black was all around her, a sea of ink. It covered her up to her neck, soaking into her clothes and filling every crevice of her body.

"Donna!" She'd never seen the Doctor so alarmed. He sprang over the rope and fumbled to grab one of her hands, but both had already gone under. His face was pale, brown eyes large and wide. He looked terribly frightened. "Donna, just hold on, I'll get you out of there," he said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and frantically sliding the little buttons and dials into place. "I'll get you out in a moment, and you'll be as right as rain–"

She remembered telling Jethro the same thing roughly thirty seconds ago. And that hadn't been the truth, had it? The thing around her ankle tightened, and she coughed and choked as black washed into her mouth.

"Do something; you've got to save her!" Dee-Dee cried.

"Doctor," Donna rasped, throat sore and aching from inhaling the goo. She coughed, watching as the screwdriver lit up with a comforting blue light. The Doctor's expression was twisted with concentration as he focused it on the black pool, but nothing was happening. "Doctor," she said again, and finally got his attention. "Tell my grandad I love him, all right?"

"No," he said, furiously shaking his head. "I won't tell him, Donna Noble, because you're going to tell him yourself. You're going to tell him yourself over ginger tea and banana pudding and biscuits in your mum's parlor, when we go back to Earth again. All right? You're going to tell him yourself."

"Please just tell him," Donna said, and was sucked under. All she saw was black as it flooded her eyes and mouth and nose and ears.

The last thing she heard was the Doctor screaming her name.

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**Please review. :)**


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